Mercy's Shadow
by fishylishy
Summary: -3rd and final in TriShadow trilogy; sequel to Love's Shadow-"The war you wage is dangerous," Zelda cautioned. I met her gaze. "A war far bigger than Dark Link's death. The Goddesses themselves shall fight against you." A question: Can you fight destiny?  COMPLETE
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, everybody. I'm pleased to welcome you to Mercy's Shadow, the third (and final!) installment of the TriShadow series. This shall be quite an adventurous fic, which I'm pleased to say will have twists of suspense and fluffy moments of romance.**

**I don't want to spoil too much, however. So, with that said, I'll quickly list an inspirational song, get on with the small teaser summary, disclaimer, and then get on with the chapter.**

**Inspirational song of Mercy's Shadow: **_Justice & Mercy_ by _Flyleaf._

**Teaser Summary:** "The war you wage is dangerous," Zelda cautioned. I met her gaze. "A war far bigger than Dark Link's death. The Goddesses themselves shall fight against you."

**Disclaimer: I do not own Nintendo, Legend of Zelda, or any such things. I make no profit from this.**

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"_Mercy screams its violent love, justice and mercy, this is where they kiss." -_Justice and Mercy, by Flyleaf

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_"Relax," The menacing voice uttered. My blurred vision and state of mind made it sickening to try and focus on Dark's voice—I could not hope to fight with Link if it came down to a fight. "I'm not here to pick a fight."_

_ "You sick bastard," Link yelled. I felt him shift his weight to the bane of his sword. Anger dripped from his voice. "I will never stop fighting until you get sent back to the Darkness Realm—then, it's in the hands of the Goddesses."_

_ "Clearly, they favor me." In my squiggly vision, I saw the glow of Dark's Triforce._

_ "Power cannot exist without courage and wisdom." I heard Link's Triforce of Courage pulse faintly, backing him up._

_ Dark clucked his tongue. "Anyway, I'm not here to pick a fight. Quite the opposite, actually."_

_ Link gently set me down on the sandstone floor of the chamber. I heard him reached for his arrow, and I heard the sinew stretch out as he prepared to fire._

_ "How utterly romantic. Forgive me, Midna, for interrupting your happy moment with Link." His voice was mocking and I fought to stay awake. My side ached and I felt the blood continue its flow, falling out of me, draining me of life. I wondered if I would die if I was not healed quickly. Angered by the thought, I shot my vision open and tried to make sense of the blurs._

_ The arrow from Link's skilled hands whizzed through the air. Dark dodged it easily, and Link prepared another shot._

_ "I, however, won't stay long. I merely came for these."_

_ Dark reached up to the mirror pedestal, plucking the two mirror shards on the Light Realm's side of the portal like they were ripened apples._

_ "NO!" I whispered in a heave. _

_ Dark grinned. The portal spurred to life behind him, connecting the pieces in his hands to those in the Twilight Realm. I tried to lift myself to my feet and Link lunged for the portal, sword in hand-_

_ The mirror chamber fell dark and silent._

_ Dark was gone, along with the mirror shards._

I shot awake in bed, heaving for breath. Cold sweat drenched my skin and my whole body ached—especially my side, where the crude stitches uncomfortably jutted into my skin. My mind swam and my hands burned with the bolts of golden light magic that hung on them—defensively from the dream.

I looked up, out the window of the upstairs of Telma's bar. I was in the loft of her bar, and though it stunk of whiskey, it made me feel comfortable. It was small quarters—a cot mattress laid out onto the floor, surrounded by books and bookcases. There was a small curtain, for privacy of changing and other needs, in the corner—but other than that, it was jam packed.

Judging by the light from the skylight, it wasn't even dawn yet.

Shaken scared by the memory/dream that I had encountered, I stood from the cot and quickly dressed. Zelda, being the lovely woman she was, had offered tons of clothes to me—but I refused. I wore my skanty yet traditional draping Twili outfit and wasn't about to change it. My hair fell loose on my back and I ran my fingers through it in an attempt to brush it.

My mind raced—I was constantly filled with worry. Dark had all the pieces of the Mirror in the Twilight Realm, and so he could come back at any time. There was no telling what was becoming of my people. I hoped that they were okay, and that they were being strong.

I barreled down the small spiral stairwell and stepped foot into the main room of the bar.

Link was asleep in a chair, feet up on the table. He was dressed in his Hero's Tunic again, with the Master Sword in its sheath on his back. He looked so peaceful, and so I tip toed past.

"Up already, Mid?"

Telma stood behind the bar with a broom in hand. _Does that woman ever even sleep? _I thought to myself.

"Yep. Had a nightmare. Again."

"Hon, you should really drink a glass of liquor before going to bed. It'll get rid of those."

"No thanks," I declined. "Knowing me, I'll just get drunk off of it. A drunken princess-in-hiding is no good."

Telma sighed. "Want me to put on some breakfast tea or coffee for you?"

"Coffee. Blacker than soil, please. No cream, sugar, cucco feathers, goat milk, chocolate port syrup-"

"I get it, Princess. Black coffee. No fancy add-ons."

"Thanks, Telma. I'm heading out for a walk to clear my head."

"It'll be ready when you get back, hon."

I left the bar hastily, walking the deserted streets of Castle Town. I had no real destination—not the castle, for sure, because I didn't want to go see Zelda. She had wanted to put me in a room in the castle—I refused. The royal treatment was the last thing on my mind.

I walked pointlessly for a few moments, until I finally ended up at the fountain in the middle of the main square. It was silent, dark, and deserted—I was the only one awake. A mockingbird sang in the distance, and I sighed.

I faced the thoughts I had not wanted to think of—thinking of Tetra. I had not seen her in the time that I had gotten back to the Light Realm, and I had not seen her after she tried to fight off Dark. I didn't see how she could—after all, she was merely a spirit. He could walk through her. I knew she had spiritual energy, but I doubted its strength.

With a sorrowful sigh, I came to a conclusion. Dark had sent her spiraling back to the Sacred Realm—he had re-killed the dead.

"So, if I'm _un_-undead, then it technically means I'm alive."

I quickly jumped to my feet and faced her voice.

She sat, in her translucent form, atop the fountain. She toyed with a dagger, and a red bandana hung loose around her neck. She looked so exhausted, and so sad. A pang of guilt filled me and I hesitantly spoke. "Yah, I figured you'd come back to haunt me."

"Not nearly. I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to speak with you."

"Go speak with Link, then. He'd love to meet his mother."

A quiet sigh brushed past her lips. So sad. Depressed, even. "I could not hurt him or distract him in that way. It's better off if he never has to tear open those sealed wounds."

I nodded, in half-agreement with her. I put my head in my hands and rubbed my temples, frustrated.

"What's bugging you? Your spiritual energy is quite upset."

"I killed you—again," I muttered to my hands. Tears pricked at my eyes.

"No. Dark did. Don't ever think that this is your fault."

I paused in silence for a moment. I was almost sure she was gone, but I uttered a question anyway. "Are you here to guide me again? Help us kill Dark?"

"No. I'm no longer an errand-messenger for the Goddesses. I got fired."

So that's what she had been. I looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean, fired? So Dark beat you in a fight—what does that mean, game over?"

Tetra laughed. "No. The fact that I fought him with my spirit—that was breaking the rules. I'm not supposed to interfere like that."

So _that_ was what she had meant in that fight—when she had been so horrified with herself. "Oh, for the sake of Darkness, please tell me you're not stuck being a lost spirit for the rest of—"

"No, no! Nothing like that. You know, kid, you can be so rash sometimes." Tetra laughed at the end of her sentence, pleasantly amused.

"That's me. The royal court jester," I muttered. She laughed again, joyously, and I was kind of at peace with her.

"Well, to answer your question, I'm just not...trusted anymore. By the Goddesses, I mean. I am no longer doing their bidding. I was free to visit Hyrule one last time—before eternally resting in the Sacred Realm."

"You pissed off the Goddesses?"

"No, no. They pity me. I'm one of their children. They just won't trust me with important work anymore. And that's fine—I'd like to rest in peace."

Her form was starting to flicker. She sighed. "I don't have much time left. I kind of feel like I have to warn you-"

Tetra started to fade. The moment became urgent. "Get it over with! Please! Warn me about what?"

Her eyes met mine and blazed in flames of passion. "This is much bigger than Dark, Midna. Watch your step, please. And watch Link's, too."

She faded out, until she was nothing but a breath in the wind.

"Goodbye, Tetra. Rest in peace, old soul."

Perhaps she heard my goodbye. Perhaps she didn't.

But I had certainly heard the frantic tone-_ "This is much bigger than Dark, Midna. Watch your step."_

**I wanted it out by the 5th, and whaddya know—it's the 2nd! That's me, with my incredible timing. I just couldn't wait to publish this one, so I'm releasing it early. The next chapter shall be whipped up fairly soon, I'm sure.**

**Reviews, opinions, flames, and insults are perfectly welcome. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Woohoo! After a stressful, painful, and ironically FUN few days, I'm back with Chapter Two. I'd like to thank everybody for the reviews and story alerts/story favorites this has gotten...makes me very happy. Thanks again!**

"Midna."

He wasn't asking me a question, or even calling my name. No, he spoke my name evenly and fairly...addressing me. I looked up from the from my perch atop the bridge of Lake Hylia—the area looked like a ruined and ancient viewing theater—and sighed heavily.

Hyrule's daily dose of twilight was falling upon the land—sunset, to be specific—and Link's face was shadowed as he walked down towards me. It slightly scared me to think of his resemblance to Dark, and I shuddered out of memory-fear.

Link laughed lightly and sat on the edge of the bridge with me. His eyes met mine, and I sighed again. "Figured you'd want a heart-to-heart, dog boy."

He laughed again and nodded. "Something like that." He brushed his hand along the side of my face, where a thin scar was present from Dark's beatings. I winced back and he frowned—he had been trying to caress my face out of love and care, not trying to hurt it.

"Yeah, I ruin the moment like that," I grunted.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Shuddup, Link. It's not your fault." My voice was hard.

"Yes, it is, Midna."

"Well, you can beat yourself up over it all you want, but that doesn't change it. The scar is there and it's not goin' away. Oh, well."

Silence engrossed us for a few moments, and I gazed peacefully out into the sunset. It was bittersweet—beautiful, to see it in Hyrule; yet so agonizing in the fact that it reminded me of my realm. The gorgeous, dim yet neon colors swirled in a reflection across of Lake Hylia.

"So...how...are you?" Link asked me. The question was simple, but hard to answer.

I couldn't tell him about Tetra. Not just yet—if ever. And her...spiritual re-death...had put me in a sour mood.

"Falling to pieces, kinda," I admitted.

Link raised an eyebrow. "I'll get some honey to stick you back together."

"Yuck, sticky," I complained. Link laughed again and brushed his hand through my hair, avoiding the scar. It felt awkward—tenderness had not been a part of my life—but it soothed my nerves, so I let him.

"You've been upset lately. You looked like you killed someone."

"Kinda did," I blurted unthinkingly.

He raised _both_ eyebrows. I mentally slapped myself. "I had a...spirit...guide," I admitted. I could just explain the actual _story_ to him—without mentioning names—and it wouldn't be too bad. Besides, I wanted someone to listen.

So I explained.

Twilight turned to dusk and Lake Hylia fell silent, besides the small chirp of bugs and the whisper of wind. Stars emerged in the sky above, startling white dots against the dark blue. Link's eyes never left my face as he listened to my story.

"So the spirit...warned you?"

"Yeah," I told him. "I have no clue what she meant, though. Bigger than Dark? I'm not a genius, admittedly." I sighed again. "You Hylians are so cryptic! Melo-dramatic!"

Link nodded. "True, true. More legendary than normal."

"Nothing's ever normal, dog-boy. Sad truth, but at least life is exciting." My tone was more wistful than sarcastic, and a small smile stretched across my lips. Link's eyes lit up at the sight of my smile, and I instantly longed for when things _were_ normal. The both of us, off on a quest together, meeting his neighbors...

"HEYYYYYYYYY!"

I damn near toppled off the edge of the bridge in my startled movements, but I quickly backflipped and landed on my feet. My eyes scanned the bridge and a tall, scrawny form approached me, panting heavily and waving his arms.

"The...mail man?" Link raised an eyebrow and hopped down from the ledge, standing next to me.

"I...have..._one_...letter-"

Annoyed, I grabbed the mailman by the collar of his cheap shirt and growled, "Hurry it up or you and your letters will be toppling face down into that oversized watering-hole beneath us."

The mailman's eyes bulged. "For you," He concluded his sentence and I put him back down on the ground. He huffed a quick 'onward to mail!' and clumsily scrambled away.

"Freak," I muttered. I looked at the envelope, and a thick scent of floral paper told me that it was a decently important letter. I tore open the envelope and scanned the letter's contents;

_Dear Midna,_

_ I'm requesting your presence at my castle tomorrow morning. Please tell Link he is needed at Telma's bar by Shad and Rusl in the morning. I apologize for such hasty notice._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Princess Zelda_

Link lunged for the letter in my hands and I held it above my head—I loved being tall!-and grinned. "Aww, do you wanna read the letter? You could get down on all fours and beg," I teased.

Link rolled his eyes and crouched down on his knees, putting his hands up in front of his face like a puppy. His blue eyes twinkled and I burst into giggles. "Alright, alright, I'll tell you what it says...but not because you're adorable. Her Royal Highness Midna is just being nice," I told him.

He got up to his feet and looked at me, waiting for me to enlighten him. "You have to be at the bar in the morning, and I've gotta be at the castle."

"Why?"

"Dunno. Zelda was pretty brief."

"She always is," He responded. He looked at me for a long moment and I rolled my eyes. "Shall we head back to the town, Your Highness?"

"You know what? No, let's not. I kinda like the stars. They're growing on me again."

"You want to sleep out _here?_" Link was bemused.

"Mhmm. What, afraid of bug bites?"

"No, I'm afraid of _you_ throwing me off the bridge!"

Our laughter filled the valleys of land and water, joyously ringing. Nervous, yes, but joyous. Pained, but dancing in the rain.

We slept well under the stars.

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I heard the low murmur of voices hush to silence as I entered the castle town square. People stared—some openly, some out of the corner of theirs eyes. The people of the Light Realm were dressed in colorful clothes, with colorful makeup and fleshy features. A very diverse type of people—perhaps even as diverse as those of the people of the Twilight Realm.

However, it didn't change the fact that about fifty people were staring at me. With an embarrassed and nervous flush, I cleared my throat. "Yep. I'm Midna." My voice was kind of a simple monotone. "Hi," I added.

A few people nodded and waved.

Noise picked up, and they went on with their lives.

_That's gonna get old _real_ quick,_ I thought with a sigh. I, too, picked up my business and walked towards the north end of the square. The arches of Hyrule Castle greeted me and I walked up the path, till I was past the immense wooden doors.

A few guards greeted me at the front of the courtyard. "Princess Midna—"

"Just Midna, thanks," I assured them.

The guards, clad in their golden-gray armor, stuttered out apologies. I sighed again—guards in the Twilight Realm were never this nervous. "I just need to talk to Zelda. She sent a messenger to me to say I was needed."

"Right away, Miss Midna!" The two guards quickly turned on their heel, and so I followed them through the grand castle grounds.

After entering the lavish marble-stone castle, we climbed several sets of stairs and walked down a blue carpet that had been rolled out on the floor. We eventually reached a room with a large golden door, which looked surprisingly ominous. "Thanks, guys," I muttered.

The guards nodded and hustled away. _Did I do something?_ I wondered.

I opened the door timidly and stepped inside. It slammed shut behind me with a loud _thump._

Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw in that room.

Artisans of all types bustled and ran across the room, working on pots and banners and dresses. A loud hum of clatter and voices ensued, and I tried to make sense of the hustle-bustle.

Zelda's mezzo-toned voice rang out in a loud protest—"Well, perhaps you should have trained them better in the art of tradition!"

I made my way through the crowd till I reached a small pedestal, where Zelda stood arguing with a man clad in golden-gray armor.

"Milady, I'm afraid that-"

"Just go. Hurry and train them, I wouldn't want them to look like fools in front of everybody."

The man scrambled from the platform and ran out the door of the room.

I stepped up onto the platform and raised my eyebrows, gesturing to the large crowd of workers. "_My_ presence is needed?"

"Yes! Of course. It is time for the Cultural Festival!"

"...what?"

"A yearly festival that shows the diversity of Hyrule."

"Zelda!" I hissed. "Dark is in my realm, probably readying an attack of Din's magnitude, and you want to throw a _party?_"

"All the more that the people of Hyrule should be celebrating culture. They shall be aware of the situation and they shall be more than ready to help in need of a fight!" Her gaze was perfectly steady.

"Ooooh, no. I am not going to make your realm go to war against Dark."

"What happened with Zant and Ganon was a terrible mistake on my part. I did not inform the people of Hyrule of what was coming, and they were in the dark during the entire incident. That will not happen again."

Her expression was stern, letting me know I had no part to argue. "Ughh. Zel, you are _insane._"

Zelda's expression went blank for just a second, and I suddenly knew. "Your Triforce is telling you something."

Her eyes focused again, and she nodded. "I don't know what it's trying to tell me. It's a lot of golden flashes. But one thing I can clearly see is that the people of Hyrule need to be informed."

I groaned again. "Fine! I'll help you with your freaking festival!"

She smiled. "How very noble of you. Now, come, there are many things to do!" She turned away from me and yelled out into the crowd of working artists. "Chief Jackson! Take over supervision for me!" Zelda led me down the platform hastily, and she turned to look at me. "This is not a time to be mourning losses. This is a time to be readying to show that we are Hyrule and we are everlasting!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! Had some sudden inspiration, and because I'm going back to school on Monday (scary, scary...very very very scary), I figured I should update. :D This doesn't mean I'll stop updating—I do have a much better schedule this year and a better "hold" on things. I'm also doing some professional acting/modeling, which requires lots of travel. SO, in short: I have time to write. :D**

**I'd like to thank all you special reviewers and readers—especially my newer readers, who have started reading the series from the beginning. Thank you, everybody! :D**

**By the way—this is a "filler" chapter of sorts. I know, I know, having a ball isn't your idea of a Goddess-driven-bloody-war-between-realms, but trust me...the turn outs shall reveal all!**

**P.S—some of the humor in this chapter is meant to be rather dry. If it makes you laugh, great. Otherwise, bear with me. ;D**

**P.P.S—the 'ancient Hylian' is actually Romanian. Jus' in case you were wondering.**

Zelda's seamstress, Neti, was poking and prodding me to every extent imaginable. It felt like I was back in the Infirmary in the Twilight Palace—constant poking! "Ouch," I scolded. "For Din's sakes, Neti, what are you doing? Am I not going to be wearing my outfit from _my_ realm?"

"Of course you are," Neti responded. Her voice was high and frilly, like those little Oocco birds that Link had met along his quest. Her voice was a tad more shrill and quick-paced, though, which made it entertaining to listen to her. "Patience, child! I am simply measuring for things such as your masquerade mask, your ankle-bracelets, and your undergarments." She whipped out a long piece of rope with markings out it—her measuring device, I assumed.

"Undergarments?" I questioned, curious.

Zelda's eyes met mine—her eyes flashed, bemused. "Undergarments, yes," Zelda told me. "You wear them under your clothes."

"What purpose do they serve?"

Neti's laughter pierced my ears, and I winced slightly. I probably shouldn't have asked. Light dwellers had all sorts of weird practices. "None other than what you'll be doing later in the night of the ball, my dear."

Zelda chuckled wickedly.

"You Light-Dwellers and all your weird riddles of speaking! Jeez, you think that I'd be used to it by now. Why do I need new clothes to sleep in? I have a nightdress, you know."

Neti sighed. "Child, I doubt you'd be _sleeping_ in this." She held up a piece of very lacy fabric, and Zelda burst into giggles.

I glared at Zelda very slowly. I'm sure that she could feel beams of magic radiating from my pupils and into her skin. "Zelda, I don't know what kind of plan _that _is, but it's not gonna work." I turned to Neti. "Cancel the...uhm, lacy stuff, please."

Zelda looked at her. "Just make it, Neti. Midna will come around, you must forgive me for her bluntness."

I sighed.

This was going to be a _long_ day.

All of Hyrule was invited—the Yeti's from the Snowpeak had already responded to the invitation saying they couldn't make it. The big snow-beast-guy's annoying wife had come down with a cold. Again. He did assure in his letter that it was not due to a mirror piece this time, though.

Thank Din for that, I supposed. Prince Ralis was ordering his Zora-race to attend, and he also insisted upon helping with the catering. On top of the delicious yet stinky fish that was present in the Zora Domain, their coral was apparently edible if cooked right.

The people of Ordon were all planning on attending. Zelda was bugging me to go back to the village and talk to them, as an 'ambassador' of the realms. I was also in charge of taking Neti and her assistant Medli to the smaller areas of the kingdom to help with sewing. Hylians and normal humans had a certain attire that they were supposed to wear, and not everybody had the type of outfit handy...I sighed.

Everybody in Kariako Village had responded to the invitation with great excitement—including the Gorons on Death Mountain. They, also, were in need of help with the outfits. Zelda was currently out on the town, making sure the citizens were aware of the proper attire and the location. She was also gathering talented seamstresses to help out with sewing for the people of the land.

I had seen the banner being painted—_C__elebrarea D__ormit Legende__._ That's what it was called—Zelda told me that it roughly translated from ancient Hylian into 'Celebration of Sleeping Legends'. An odd name for a cultural festival, but Zelda told me that each race had their own history dating back to the very original legend—the legend of creation.

I was secretly jealous of her kingdom's festivals...I wished my people were that spiritual and that involved in their own culture. My realm kind of just...lived. I sighed as the thoughts tinged with worry and sorrow invaded my mind. I hoped that my realm was holding up.

"Ashei," I called, in a rather bored voice. Ashei was 'babysitting' me until Neti got back. "Where's Link? I wanna talk to him about something."

"Uh uh! I'll run you through with my bare hands and then make soup out of your guts before I let you see him!" Her playful tone _very_ sharply contrasted with her words. She was such a young Telma.

I turned on my heel, ripping my gaze away from the Hyrule Castle Courtyard—which was bustling with activity—and glaring at Ashei. Her gaze was amused. "Uhm. You scare me just a lil' bit, warrior girl."

Laughter brushed past her lips. "You don't know many traditions, yeah?"

"Not many," I admitted. "Why can't I see Link?"

"Because," She sang. "It's about three days or so until the ball and guests of honor aren't supposed to see each other until the ball."

"Guests of honor?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Zel has designated you and Link to be the guests of honor. See, Link is the hero of this realm. You awakened his hero-form, and you're the Princess of Twilight...you're both going to be giving speeches. Zelda considers you to be a part of the whole scheme of things, and she's going to have the people of Hyrule pray that you get the Triforce of Power—so you can be eternally reborn, like they are."

A blank expression crossed my face. _Zelda..._I thought. "Explain, please. I'm not too fast in the head."

"Oh, get a book!" Ashei growled.

A strange anxiousness filled me—like I was having some sort of breakdown. Could I _go_ three days without seeing Link? "Uhm. So...I really can't see Link?"

Ashei grinned. "Oh, honey, you are in _love!_"

A flush crossed my cheeks and I rolled my eyes. I was about to respond, but the doors of the small waiting room that we were in burst open.

"Princess Midna," Neti announced. "Zelda has gathered a fleet of the best seamstresses! We are going to depart!"

She spoke it like a general preparing for battle. "Great," I said, scrambling up from the window seat that I had been resting upon. I looked at Ashei. "Nothing personal, Ashei, but I highly suspect that you'd be better company after a few brews."

Ashei laughed merrily and shrugged. "You're right, yeah."

I walked to Neti. "Where are we going first?"

"Kakariko. While I am measuring everyone, you can go play nice with some of the villagers. The children are back in Ordon, however."

I sighed. "You sound just like my old royal advisor. Before the twilight diaster, I mean."

Neti smiled. "Great minds think alike, I suppose. Now come, before it gets to be noon. If we want to reach Ordon before dark, we have to leave now." She grabbed my hand and tugged me from the room, leading me onto a journey.

Kakariko Village.

I had not been there in what seemed like ages. Sadness tinged me as I remembered nostalgic memories of lying on the rooftops with Link, of being in his shadow...I shivered slightly at the memories. They were so distant, yet so very touching. I wondered if I would ever have a time like that again.

The village had certainly been working on its curb appeal. Its usually dirty and worn-down old buildings had had their teak planks stained and cleaned, each sign outside a door having clear set of letters on it. Dust still swirled in the air, marking the wildness of the town, but its dusty beauty still surprised me.

It had gotten to be quite a busy place. Perhaps people felt that the country-side areas of Hyrule were safer, after the situation with Ganon and Zant. People walked briskly along the buildings of the village, women washing clothes in the spring and men smoking brittle cigars outside of Malo Mart. Gorons, as usual, roamed the area, but Hylians and normal mortals had obviously set up a home for themselves.

The one building that remained the same as I had last seen it was the sanctuary—Renado's house. "Neti," I said. The cart-pulling horses skidded to a stop as Neti pulled the reins. "That piece of ugly architecture there is the 'chieftan's' house, so to speak. I kind of know him." _At least, I reallyyyy hope that Telma wrote to him about me and who I am._

"Good, good! I will start unloading the carts with Reecie and Nestel." She nodded at me and I hopped off the back of the cart, walking to the door of Renado's house quickly. A few commoners stared at me, but most just moved on with their business. I guess that word had spread across the land of who I was.

I knocked on the door, and a muffled voice yelled, "Come in!".

I entered with a nervous smile. "Uhm, Renado?"

Renado was crouched down, unloading some boxes. The room was full of colorful banners now—I guess they had been taken down during the times of Twilight. He turned quickly, looking at me. "Ahhhh," He started. "You must be Princess Midna. It is a pleasure to meet you, Midna."

I smirked politely. "I think you might have heard from Telma that there is a cultural festival going on?"

"Ahem, yes, I did."

"See, I've got this army of really mean women who can sew things up and make nice clothes outside, so..."

He laughed at my sarcasm. "Of course. I'll have the rest of the village notified immediately. I am sorry for the hustle-bustle; quite a few people have chosen a more pleasant life than a castle-town lifestyle."

"It's cool," I told him.

An impatient knock on the door interrupted us, and Renado spared me a glance. "Please, make yourself at home. Most people in Hyrule are aware of who you are...the story spreads quickly of a hero's assistant."

Another knock. "I'm coming!" Renado called.

We were finished in Kakariko by midday. Neti left a few seamstresses there to finish up the job, promising that we would pick them up in one day's time. We reached Ordon by late afternoon, and Neti set to work by knocking on Mayor Bo's door.

All the villagers had gathered in the Mayor's house—besides the children, that is. They played freely up at the ranch, and I heard their laughter in the distance.

Twilight-sunset was falling, making the village incredibly beautiful. There was a golden tint to everything as the sun started setting, staining the sky with brilliant shades. The water wheel hummed and the water reflected the sky that held the beauty of the prettiest time of day.

The village was built upon foothills and slight slopes, making it enjoyable to walk on. The grass and landscaping—as well as the building structures—were simple and well-kept, the many benefits of a close-knit farming community. Ancient trees spotted the land, making for excellent houses.

I wandered out of the main part of town and past Link's house. _I'll sleep in his bed tonight,_ I thought. The thought excited me more than I should, and I frowned mentally at myself. _Stupid._

I walked into the woods aimlessly, smiling as the shadows of the trees scurried across my form. It was peaceful, green, and mossy in the outskirts of Faron woods. The monsters had all gone away, and animals freely ran about.

I found myself at Ordon Spring. The weeping willows and beautiful fountains of rock that flowed water into the shallow land was tinted with sundown colors, meeting with the pristine sands. It was gorgeous, and I wished that Link was there with me.

A noise made me turn, ripping my eyes from the peace and making me on edge.

"H-h-hello, Midna," She said.

_Oh, great._

**Slighttt cliffy. However, it's a long chapter and I'm tired—I have acting training in the morning, and I start school Monday. I will keep updating, I SWEAR! It just might be a little bit slower. Message me or e-mail me (the link's on my profile) if you need me/want to talk to me, as I have an incredible device known as a Blackberry. In fact, emails are preferred—it's just more tedious to have to use my browser to log into FFMobile and respond. XD**

**I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading. :P**

**-Lish**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello, everybody. It's been a hard two weeks, but I'm enjoying myself (to some degree!). I hope you like the chapter.**

Ilia stood before me, white-washed and gray-toned as usual. Her short and bleach-y hair was hastily pinned up in a small bun, away from the rest of her face. She wore her usual outfit—trousers and a knitted dress—but wore no shoes.

"Uhm...yo," I greeted.

As I spoke, she flinched back, like I was going to hit her or something. I realized that this was the first time I had ever really met her. I mean, sure, I had been there with Link—but I had been in his shadow.

"Sorry to intrude. I'm Ilia."

"No shit," I bluntly spat. She winced. "Oh. Right. You're not into swears. My bad."

"It's okay. You're used to battle-field speak."

_Battle field speak? What are we, toddlers?_

"Right," I agreed. "Anyway, I know who you are. I'm guessing that old-hag Telma told you about how I was with Link for his entire quest?" I made a slight emphasis on the word _entire._

"Yes."

There was an awkward silence. The colors of Twilight were fading from the sky, turning into dusk. Night would fall soon, and so I'd be needed in the village.

"Well...I guess I'd better head back to the village. Those seamstresses are really obsessive over things, so I don't want to be late." She knew I was bull-shitting her, and she called after me. Her voice was that of a girl with a broken heart, and awkward rage filled me.

"Midna—why?"

"Why _what_?" I snapped. My fingers clenched into fists and I couldn't believe the rage that I was feeling for a simple question on her part.

"Why was it _you_? And not me?"

I turned slowly and met her eyes. They were misty-green that seemed to be in their own eternal depression, calling to me in desperation. My voice softened. "I don't know, Ilia. Sorry."

"'S okay," She muttered to the ground. "Nice talking to you. And meeting you, I guess."

I left the spring with haste. I wished the meeting between us had not gone that way, but there was nothing else I could do. _Hey, maybe she'll meet someone she likes at the festival._ The thought provided some sort of hope for my guilty conscience, and I walked into the village as night fell.

00000000000000000

Banners and streams of fabric were strewn all across Castle Town, with glitter and lanterns hanging in the air. Streamers were carefully sewn from rooftop to rooftop, making the hectic color scheme of Castle Town even _more_ hectic. People of all types were there—well, those of _importance._ I saw a few Goron Tribe Leaders and Prince Ralis speaking with some important looking Hylian Nobles. I saw Mayor Bo, who had come to Castle Town to help represent Ordon, trying to find a conversation to fit into.

Everything, though mismatched and cluttered, seemed to _fit._ I saw banners with Hylian on them, streamers with Zora glyphs on them, and Goron fire-rocks being used as lanterns. Tables of local cafes were covered in multi-colored clothes—with blue, gold, and red as the color schemes; each color representing a culture.

With a pang of sadness, I realized that the Twili's markings were not anywhere to be seen. I sighed and my expression faltered. Neti clicked her tongue and smiled at me. "Look again, child. Look closely."

I looked at the banners and the streamers, unsure of what to be looking _for._ Then, I saw a logo of the Triforce ensnared by the Fused Shadows, with blue and gold light gleaming from it, and I grinned merrily. The logos were _everywhere—_in the centre point of table clothes, in wall-clothes, on banners and streamers.

With a satisfied grunt, I strut towards the castle. It took a few moments—the square was _bustling_ with merchants and artisans and nobles from the different cultures, trying to get catering tables set up and trying to set up a central platform. Finally, I reached the archway. Two guards nodded and quickly let Neti and me waltz into the courtyard.

The castle courtyard and interior walls were just as decorated as the square had been, but slightly more serene. The colors seemed mellowed down and more easy-going, draped lavishly around statues and fountains, as well as elegantly hanging from the tree branches. I walked into the castle, which was more of the same. _Everything_ was decorated.

Zelda stood in the central room, apparently waiting for me. "Neti, I believe that you have work to do." Zelda's tone was warm but authoritative, and Neti took the hint to leave.

"Hey, Zel."

"Midna," She greeted. Her Triforce pulsed. "I assume you have the Fused Shadows?"

"I don't think so," I responded. Dark had had them under strict guard in the Twilight Realm, and Tetra and I hadn't had time to grab them.

"Check," Zelda told me. Her smile slipped to a frown.

"Why?"

"Do it."

With a quick roll of my eyes, I rummaged through the Shadow Storage in my mind. I didn't have much—some arrows, some potions. Still, I felt a stronger presence of magic than normal, and I searched for it. My brow furrowed in concentration, and I felt the Fused Shadows slip into my grasp.

"What the hell?" I gasped.

"I had a vision," Zelda murmured. "How did you get them away from Dark?"

My thoughts were on a rampage. When did I get the Fused Shadows back? _How_ did I get them back? Was I losing my memory? Panic and frustration filled me, but left as realization struck. _Tetra._ _She didn't...she didn't fail me after all._

"I think I have an idea," I told her. "You see-"

"Princess Zelda!"

Telma waltzed into the grand central room of the castle as if she owned the place, walking with some pride in her stride. Her eyes gave everything away, though—she was practically ogling the castle grounds.I rolled my eyes impishly as Zelda greeted her. "Telma, it's a pleasure to see you."

"Link's been going absolutely crazy, hon. Can you perhaps go and talk to him about what's planned?"

"Yes. And you can talk to Midna?"

"Sure thing, sweets."

So _Telma_ was in the loop of what was going on and I wasn't? Zelda's manner of running things was starting to annoy me.

"Midna," Zelda called as she paused her walk out of the room. "Please wear those Fused Shadows during the formal part of the Festival tonight."

Before I could protest, she skittered out of the room.

**The next chapter will be out very soon. I decided to split the chapter up, because it was getting pretty dang long!**


	5. Chapter 5

"So, Midna, Zelda and I were plannin' something."

I sighed. I couldn't believe that Zelda had left right before I could explain the mystery of how I had gotten the Fused Shadows back—let alone the fact that she had left me with _Telma. _Back when Ashei was my appointed babysitter, I could at least be left to own silence.

"And?" I muttered lazily.

"See, the first part of the festival will take place right at twilight." She saw me wince at the mention of the word, but she warmly smiled. "Zel thinks it will be the most appropriate, so just suck it up."

"Telma, it's a shock to me that you haven't gotten your ass kicked yet."

Telma took that as a sign to go on with her conversation. "Zelda and Link will briefly introduce themselves, and then you will step out from behind the curtain and give a speech."

I hated politics for that exact reason—speeches. "A speech? Because I can just pull one of those out of my-"

"A speech on your journey with Link, Dark Link's appearance, what is going on in your realm...stuff like that, hon."

"Great," I mumbled. "Just great."

"And we need to get you all dolled up for tonight, so c'mon. Zel kinda told me where her seamstresses, hairdressers, and beauticians are...so, let's go."

I willingly followed Telma. Perhaps I was actually somewhat excited—but perhaps I was just nervous of giving a speech to a whole bunch of Light Dwellers. Besides, there was no longer a point in arguing about getting completely made-up for the festival.

We met the dedicated Hylian servants who were going to beautify me, and I greeted them in some type of politeness. I was switching into my _ruler mode—_I was still sarcastic, but more in a political sense than anything else. Telma raised her eyebrows, impressed by the facade, and I closed my eyes to let the servants work on me.

Coats of makeup and oil were smeared across my face and neck, and some sort of vegetable covers were put over my eyes. Chiclinda, the head beautician, assured me that they were laced with minerals that would make my eyes appear bright. Considering the fact that my irises were bright red and my eyeballs were golden, I wasn't too keen on the idea, but Chiclinda insisted.

They put lots of oils and scrubs all over my body—claiming that they would make my skin shiny and glow infused. Again, I wasn't keen on making the odd blue-tone of my skin stand out, but they once again insisted.

The hours passed quickly. I heard commotion in the halls—people dressing and preparing for the festival. Even the servants of the castle were invited to join, which was a nice gesture from Zelda. Finally, the covers on my eyes were removed and Chiclinda said to me, "Don't look in the mirror yet. We need to dress you."

I eagerly slipped on my traditional Twili outfit, its familiar feeling rather comforting to me. "Now, look at yourself, sweetie!" Telma's voice was slightly slurred—what a surprise, she had been drinking.

Chiclinda turned me to a mirror.

Every emotion in the world came to me—joy, melancholy, nostalgia. My skin was its pale and flushed out blue, catching light and glowing. My eyes were undoubtedly bright, the colors of Twilight forever stained inside their appearance. My hair was long and flattened, its amber tones brilliantly catching any light. The openness of my black robe contrasted with the rest of my body, the cyan glyphs of Twili on it gleaming with an unseen force.

And my head...the Fused Shadow helmet sat atop my head, its face-cover retracted (A/N: Like it had been when she was in Imp Form, the helmet is open atop her face and head). I wore the traditional crown that spiralled down to the bridge of my nose, engraved with a Twilian Ruby.

I choked back a sob. I looked like I was truly the Princess of Twilight.

"Thank you," I blubbered to the seamstresses and beauticians. They cooed and me and soon left the room to hurriedly get changed.

Telma grinned at me. "Honey, you are unbelievably gorgeous."

"Don't overdo it, Telm," I warned her. I struggled to control my emotions, readying myself to give the speech. I had a _general_ idea of what I would say, though my concerns of whether or not the crowd would _like_ me for what I said plagued my thoughts.

"We've gotta go, Mid. It's almost time."

I looked at Telma. I hadn't noticed that she had gotten changed while I was getting made-up—she wore a gown identical to Zelda's, with the Hylian coat of arms printed on a flourish of pink in the middle of the white gown. Her hair was pinned up and she wore a golden masquerade mask.

"Okay. Uhm, thanks, Telm...and you _almost_ look pretty."

She laughed merrily and led me by the hand. We walked through the courtyard, the lanterns lit up. The sky was slowly fading into a mess of sunset-stained colors—it was almost time. _Twilight_, I thought.

A curtain was placed over the archway. Telma turned to me. "You'll know when to come out."

It was hard to hear her—the crowd on the other side of the curtain was _enormously _loud. I nodded gratefully, composing my face, and she disappeared to the other side of the purple curtain.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!"

A guard's booming voice echoed to the crowd on the other side, and a hush fell out upon the square. I bit my lip nervously, waiting for the next words.

"Presenting Princess Zelda and the Hero of Twilight, Link!"

The crowd applauded so loudly that my ears tingled. The boom of claps and cat-calls finally grew silent, and Zelda's calm voice spoke.

"Citizens of Hyrule and its outskirts, Citizens of Zora Domain and its Snowpeak, Citizens of Death Mountain," Zelda began. "It is an honor to be here tonight with this wonderful kingdom spread out in front of me." She paused to allow more clapping. "Before the celebration itself can begin, we would like to give some formal speeches that we feel that you need to hear. I, myself, cannot say much—except that I am pleased that how strong everyone in this land is. A special thanks to Chief Darbus of the Gorons, Mayor Bo of Ordon Village, Prince Ralis of the Zoras, and many other rulers and warriors." More clapping. "Now, Link, would you like to take over?"

Hysterical screams and deafening applause shook the ground beneath me. Link laughed and I could almost _hear_ him blush. The crowd died down, and his voice rang out. "It has been an _honor_ serving each and every one of you as the bearer of Courage. I can't list the number of people who aided me on my quest, as the number is too vast. Your strength inspires me to keep going, and I can't thank you enough. I will protect this land until the day I die, and for eternity after that. This is the Celebration of Sleeping Legends, and tonight is a night to celebrate our past—because we _certainly_ all deserve a celebration after what we've gone through."

The people of the kingdom went hysterical once again, until the crowds screamed at them to settle down.

"With no further delay," Link said. "I would like you all to meet someone—someone very special. Someone not from this realm. Someone who was there all along my quest, helping me whenever she could."

"Introducing the Princess of Twilight," Zelda's voice was high-pitched in volume, and I brushed past the curtain.

The applause for my entrance was not nearly as grand as Link and Zelda's. As I stepped out onto the small wooden stage, set up with a small podium, I looked all through the crowd. Hundreds of thousands of mortals, Hylians, Zoras, and Gorons were all gathered there. They were in a mass crowd, nearly standing on top of each other. People sat on rooftops and their numbers stretched out to the side streets. I gulped and Link and Zelda stepped aside, letting me take the podium.

"Uhm...hello to you all," I started with a nervous chuckle. I felt the burning stares of the people bore into my skin. "I'm Midna—the Princess of Twilight. Some of you have seen me around and looked at me sort of funny, so I assume that you're all glad to know who I am and why I look so strange." A laugh went up in the crowd as I continued. "You all know the tale, I guess. Twilight fell—Twilight from _my_ realm. A usurper named Zant had used Ganondorf to get power and curse me into the form of a small imp. Destruction reigned down on both realms, and I found Link. I agreed to help him find his friends, who had been kidnapped by shadow beasts."

I was so unsure of what to put in and leave out, but all I could tell was the truth. "Link, inside of the walls of Twilight, transformed into a Sacred Beast—a blue eyed wolf. The wolf was one from my people's legends, and that is why I wanted to help him. At first, it was all business. We helped each other under mutual agreement. We restored light to the provinces and cleared Sacred Temples that had been tainted by the power of something called the Fused Shadow," I paused for breath, "Which is the weird Twili power-thingamabob that I wear on my head tonight. Well, right after we helped the Zora-race, Zant appeared. He cursed Link and nearly killed me. With Zelda's help, I was able to stay alive in the Light Realm..."

The story went on and on. I tried to spare the gory details of when Dark kidnapped me, but I didn't sugar-coat as much as Zelda would have. "And now..." I whispered. My voice was shaken. "I'm standing up here, blubbering, and only beginning to realize how Shadow cannot exist without Light."

Silence ensued for a good several seconds. _Shit,_ I thought, _they hate me._

Then...the roars of applause stared.

The crowd was in hysterics, screaming and cheering and cat-calling. My eyes felt moist with blood as ringing sounded. The applause was bigger than any Link and Zelda had received. Link wrapped his arms around me, and I got a good look at him. He was wearing his same old Hero's Tunic, and Zelda wore her same old dress. Neither of them wore masks, and I yanked the headdress of my head, snapping into Shadow Storage.

"Midna," He whispered, blue eyes twinkling with emotion. "You were amazing."

"I know. I should take over Public Communication for Hyrule, right?"

Zelda laughed with us, and the podium shook with the continuing applause.

"Let the Celebration _begin!_" Zelda screeched.

Bomb arrows lit up the sky that had drifted into nighttime. The Goron lanterns lit up the square, and the many faces of the kingdom blurred with emotion.

I turned and looked at Zelda, frowning. "Zel," I whispered. "You look like you're about to hurl. You okay?"

Her Triforce pulsed beneath her white gloves. "I'm fine. My Triforce is just acting up. Please, go enjoy the celebration."

Link pulled me into the crowd, and I turned just in time to see Zelda disappear through the curtain.

_Something's wrong,_ I thought. _Something's _really_ wrong._

**Woo-hoo! This was an excellent and fun chapter to write. The next chapter will be just as exciting, so stay tuned!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Happy Labor Day weekend to all of you readers and reviewers out there. For me, it's a chance to catch up on homework and perhaps hang out with friends. It's been a hectic year so far, so. :D**

**Enjoy the chapter.**

And we danced.

The crowd was a mass of people in similar outfits—the male humans & Hylians wore golden version of Link's tunic, and they wore gold masks that hid most of their faces. Their eyes spoke for them, distinguishing each person from the next. The Hylian & human women wore dresses like Zelda's, except for the fact that they were gold—as well as the golden masquerade masks that they wore. The Zoras and the Gorons wore their usual outfits—matching and uniformed, yet so formal and pretty.

Servants bustled around the courtyard and the town with trays of food and fine wine, offering drinks to anyone who they ran into. Musicians played fun tunes, and people danced.

Link's arms were at the small of my back as we casually danced. We laughed and we talked, putting our minds off of Zelda's strange behavior. I was content with being with him, and so we let it go.

"So what's with the howling on this song?" I asked.

"Not _howling_, mind you, but traditional Hylian flutes. This is the Song of Seas. When Hyrule was flooded long ago, a land called the Great Sea replaced it. This was composed for the Hero of Winds."

"Jeez. Your Goddesses must have anger-management problems," I told him. He laughed and spun me in a circle, the balls of my feet clattering on the ground. Laughter and hub-bub filled the air as people danced merrily.

"Nah."

We danced in silence for the next few minutes—well, besides my nonstop giggling for my bad dancing skills.

"LINKKKKK!"

I quickly tore my glance from Link's face and saw a troop of young girls with odd-colored hair, dressed in the same attire as everyone else. "Oooh, I get it. This is my cue to leave." I smirked at the girls—it was only polite to _share_ Link.

"Go and dance with the guys from our humble kingdom, Midna. They'll be flattered," Link chuckled.

I sighed and waved goodbye as the girls dragged him off into the crowd.

It wasn't hard to find someone to dance with. Guys flocked to me—the anomalyof the evening, I guess—and I did quick fox-trots with them and then uttered a quick goodbye. I made my way through the square, sipping at champagne in between dance partners.

I finally reached the curtain to the castle courtyard. A guard nodded at me and pulled the curtain back, and I walked through it.

The courtyard was much calmer than the rest of the town. Softer, slower music played, and the people that were hanging out in that area were the exclusive ones—the nobles, the richer merchants, and anyone of royalty.

I spoke with a few nosy nobles who had a ton of questions for me. I begrudgingly answered them, forcing myself to keep a smile on my face.

I wandered off to the edges of the courtyard. A secluded pond was there, with a footbridge going over it. Golden bugs danced in the evening air and lamplights shone, and I walked onto the bridge, overlooking the rest of the courtyard.

"Excuse me?"

I turned and looked at the man in front of me. His face was shadowed by the weeping willow that leaned over the bridge, and I smiled. "Yo," I told the Hylian.

"It's a pleasure to meet the fabled Twilight Princess." His voice was low and gruff, and I rolled my eyes humbly.

"And it's a pleasure to be here. I'm Midna." He lightly kissed my hand—the Hylian tradition—and I smirked. _I wonder how Link's doing, _I thought. _I can't wait to get away from Mr. Creeptastic._

"May I steal you for a dance, _Midna_?"

"Sure, sure. You're gonna have to lead, though. Hylian dances aren't second nature to me, pal."

"Oh, I know the feeling."

His voice had turned slightly menacing as we started our tango to the faint echo of music from the castletown square. His hands rested on the small of my back, and our bodies were pressed together in a too-close-for-comfort kind of way. My mind raced, and I narrowed my eyes nervously. I tried to pull away with a quick "Excuse me", but he didn't let me go.

_Fuck, _I thought, _I've got a stalker._ I decided to just run with it—if I just danced with him, he'd probably leave me alone.

He spun me in a circle.

"So...you know the feeling, eh? Are you from around here?"

My feet touched the ground in a quick _clack-clack-clack_ to keep up with the pace that we were spiraling around at.

"No." The man's voice was quiet and very dark—like he was talking in an accent.

_Clack-clack-clack-clack._

"Oh, wow. I guess Zel must have extended that invitation pretty damn far, then."

"Oh, she didn't. I just happened to be in the area."

_Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack._

He must have been from one of those nearby kingdoms that Link had spoken about, then.

"That's cool. Are you here on business?"

_Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack._

"You could say that."

"So if Zel didn't invite you, how'd you get back to the castle-courtyard-slash VIP area?"

_Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack._

My mind was spinning. The rate that we were spinning was incredibly fast. Part of me wanted to zap him away with light-magic, but I didn't. He wasn't a _threat_ as of yet.

_Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack-clack._

"I broke in. Don't be surprised, Midna."

His voice became all-too-familiar. I opened my mouth to scream and he shot me back with a strong-stunning spell. The shadow magic sickened me, the light magic inside of me battling against it. I twitched from the electricity, and he levitated me in a teleport-spell.

Horror filled me as we landed harshly on a roof just above the courtyard. Dark's red eyes glared down at me, a white smile present on his face. "Did you miss me, darling?"

I screamed ear-piercingly loud. "ZELDA!"

All the nobles in the courtyard turned to look. "Oh Goddesses! That man has Princess Midna!"

Quickly, guards withdrew their bows and aimed to fire.

Dark Link dragged me to my feet, pulling me in front of him and putting a knife to my throat. "Fire and I'll kill her," He yelled.

Townspeople went running into the courtyard and Dark laughed, teleporting us up to a higher roof. We were very, very high—almost to the level of where Zelda's tower was. We had to be hundreds of feet in the air. I heard the commotion from down-below carry up to us, and townspeople flooded the courtyard.

My eyes searched for Link. "You bastard," I hissed. Dark chuckled again and I landed a sharp kick to his shin. He let go of me, leaving me off balance, and I toppled down a few stories and hit cold roof tiles.

Pain rampaged throughout my body and I moaned, yanking myself to my feet. I fired a bolt of Light Magic behind me, and I heard the glow of Dark's Triforce ring in defiance.

A bolt of magic hit me—pure Shadow Magic—and my world spun. I tried to run, but I couldn't. Everything was fading and spinning, and terror melted away into nothingness. Blackness was everywhere.

_Clack-clack-clack._

**This was a VERY fun chapter to write. I hope you all enjoyed it. :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**Heya, everyone! In the mood to write again. I've been listening to a lot of really cool music, which has totally made me get creative. ^_^ In particular, "Zelda-Reorchestrated" has been a huge help to my inspiration. Search them up on YT!**

I was flying.

No, scratch that. I was being _dragged_ through the air, and rather uncomfortably at that.

I heard sounds of magic armor clashing and swords bouncing off of each other. I felt the force of a very heavy fight in the air, and lots of shouting.

My mind spun. I couldn't remember why I was flying. I tried to open my eyes and I saw Hyrule Castletown stretched out beneath me. I was so high up—up on the higher roofs of Hyrule Castle.

The sword noises continued and I felt a grip about me strengthen until it was _painful._ I attempted to twist myself around and so I could see who was holding onto me, but I couldn't. I settled for screaming, "HEY!"

"Awake, darling?" A voice hissed in my ear.

My eyes widened and I let loose on my Light Magic. It flowed through my body, zapping me in its path, but I felt it flow into Dark Link's skin. His Triforce rang out, defying the stun of magic.

"Midna!" Link yelled. I looked down on one of the lower rooftops, just in time to see Link leap up and thrust his sword at Dark. Dark easily blocked the blow with his own blade, and I hissed uneasily.

"You know-"

_Clash._

"Dog boy-"

_Clash, clank._

"Don't cut _my_ head off, dammit!"

Panic pulsed through me and I tried to squirm my way out of Dark's grasp. I writhed and managed to land a kick to his shin.

But I hadn't timed it right. We were in the middle of flying through the air again, and Dark snapped in pain, "Worthless wench!"-

And I dropped.

A scream pierced the air from my lungs as I sliced through the nighttime air, the stars above me beckoning me and burning bright. I swore and used my Light Magic to try and soften the fall using a cushion-spell.

The spell helped somewhat—I landed on a lower roof with a dull _thud_, hearing Link yell my name. I struggled to my feet and watched Link and Dark face off. Their swords kept hitting each other, and I readied a blow of magic.

I had the perfect angle. I could finally blast Dark's head off.

_No,_ an eerie voice inside of me whispered. I jumped back and misfired, the sound-wave landing right in between Link and Dark. _Foolish Twili!_

_Who the hell are _you_?_ I thought.

The voice was gone, and Link turned to me as Dark jumped back.

"Thanks?" He yelled.

"Yah, for saving your sorry ass, wolf-breath!"

Dark leapt down from the roof, coming towards me. I summoned my Light Magic, but I couldn't fire—my powers were frozen—and I took in a startled breath. "Shit," I muttered.

"Midna! Watch out!" Link called, jumping down a few steps too late.

A bright light cut through the nighttime air, and Dark howled in agony. I froze, and so did Link. The arrow that pierced Dark's arm glowed bright yellow, and I turned to face the direction of which the arrow was fired.

Zelda stood on her window sill. "Dark Link," She began, her voice echoing. "This is the time of which you will meet your end." She stretched her bow back.

"Not today, dearest," Dark hissed. His Triforce flashed and the arrow disintegrated with a quick puff of black smoke. He grinned widely. "Perhaps you should look into better security? It seems that you're all...well, rather blind."

A long, dark cloud of charcoal-colored smoke spread into the air. I covered my eyes in a futile attempt to block out the effects of the spell, but it was no use. I hysterically coughed, the gases of magic burning into my lungs and skin. Panic filled me, but I resisted against it and fought against the spell.

The blackness subsided and the mist faded, leaving Zelda, Link and myself to a very empty rooftop.

"Goddess_dammit_!" I screeched. I fired a bolt of magic in frustration, and it took a few roof tiles off.

Link slid down the rooftops to get to me, his expression deeply pained.

"Midna," He breathed. "Are you alright?"

Without responding to him, I turned to Zelda, who stood frozen by her window. "Thanks a _lot_, Zel! You let him get away!"

Her expression—though far away, and distorted in the night, abruptly turned frightening. "Link," She called. "Please go out and control the crowds. Let everyone know that a moblin broke into the castle and that the situation has been handled. Make sure the celebration goes on."

"Damage control," I scoffed. Every tendon in my body burned with dull pain, but I tried to ignore it. _Right. Damage control. I can do this. It was a moblin, right? _"C'mon, Link."

"Midna, no. I need to speak with you," Zelda yelled.

Annoyance briefly flickered in my vision, and I swatted it away. Why should I be annoyed, anyway? Zelda's job was to protect and govern her kingdom, and so I had no right to be upset with her political approach on things. The gears in my brain whirled, trying to figure out why I was so...agitated. Why was this Zelda's fault? Why-

Then numbness set in, along with the despair and agony—the downfall from the adrenaline and the fight. _Oh,_ a mute thought occurred to me. _Oh._ I struggled to keep my face straight with the emotions pulsing through my body. Such sorrow...I hadn't realized how much of that despair my body was housing.

"M'kay, Zel." My voice came out in a croak, like a frog. "I'll see you later, Link." I quickly turned on my heel, balancing on the top beam of the rooftops carefully.

He grabbed my hand. "Midna," He whispered. "Are you okay? You look pretty sick."

"Psh, dog boy. Just a side affect of that spell. Go handle the masses of Hyrule."

His grip didn't soften—he didn't believe me. I used one of the more basic Twili spells using the fraction of Shadow Magic within me—I dissolved into thousands of tiny particles, leaving Link on the rooftop. A slight giggle resonated from my lips as I dissolved, reassuring him.

I materialized on Zelda's windowsill. She helped me inside, shutting the large window behind her. It closed with a haunting _thud._

Her room was the same as ever. Stone, majestic, and brilliantly regal. A dim fire sparked in the fireplace, casting shadows across the floor. Several guards burst into the room just as I put my feet on the ground. They were not the normal guards of the town—they were the elite knights of the _castle._ Better protection for the nobles, I supposed.

"Thank you, men. The situation was handled. Please set in post-emergency procedures on the town."

"Was the threat...disposed of?" It was the gruff voice of an aging man.

"No," Zelda's voice was soft, and I heard the weight of sadness and guilt in her tone. "Leave, please."

They exited her room with haste, shutting the door behind them.

My knees buckled and I fell onto the ground. "For the love of Din," I whispered. "We let the bastard get away."

"If we had tried to pick a fight in our unprepared state, we would have been swiftly killed. You know that."

It was probably true. Everyone had been dressed for a celebration, not a battle. There had been no reason to suspect that an attack could have happened...

"Then I'm the stupid one. I _danced_ with him, Zelda, I _danced_ with-"

"You didn't know. Dark's magical aura is incredible. Disguising himself was an easy task. But this should be taken as a warning—he is most likely ready to fight."

"So we go to war," I croaked.

"Yes."

I saw it in her eyes—the guilt, the struggle...the way she avoided my gaze, the way her eyes flickered to her hand...

I leapt to my feet and grabbed her shoulder. "Tell me, _now._"

Her gaze remained calm. "Let go, Midna."

"No. I'm not speaking as your friend right now. I'm speaking as the Twilight Princess, and we just finished giving a damned speech to your people about democracy between our realms. No more lines, no more secrets. Unless all that was just bull-shit," I challenged.

Zelda narrowed her eyes and sighed. "My Triforce has been giving me visions—just pieces of Wisdom, as usual. But these visions...they are different. They are _warnings._"

"What about?" I released my grip on her shoulder.

"They are very worried, Midna. The Goddesses, the Light Spirits. You have...Light Magic...inside of you, correct?"

"How'd...how'd you..."

"Your magic has been different. And I saw it in my visions. It is _you_ who has been keeping secrets, I see." Her words silenced me, and she continued on. "But you have rejected the form that was offered to you—I saw that in my visions, too. How you...split your body and spirit for a while. You refuse to let go of the last ounce of Shadow Magic inside of you..."

"I'm a Twili, not a Hylian. Get it straight. Yeah, your Light Magic was plenty helpful to me when Dark kidnapped me. But now it's _not._ Dark is pretty immune to my Light Magic. I'm not a bearer of the Triforce, and so my secondhand Light Magic is crummy against him and my Shadow Magic is too weak to do anything to him."

"The Goddesses feel that they offered you a great gift."

"Well, they can shove the gift up their asses for all I care. I don't _want_ their gift."

"They..." Her face scrunched up, as if in pain. I felt the dull heat of her Triforce that was flashing as she spoke. "They don't think that you've done well to protect your realm. It seems as if they want it to be 'all or nothing'..."

"What?" I hissed, anger flaring in my body. "What kind of selfish and cruel power play is _that?_"

Zelda gasped, inhaling her gulps of air sharply. The heat of her Triforce faded from the air. "I don't know anymore. There's nothing else to tell. That was all the wisdom that I was gifted."

I let out a short huff of air, annoyed. We were being mentally blocked by the Goddesses—_and_ physically, just like when I had tried to blast Dark's head off.

So we'd have to beat him the old-fashioned way. _Fighting._

"Zelda," I whispered. "Alert your people. Tell them to stay inside their homes at all costs during the next few days."

Zelda looked at me wistfully. "I agree. I will notify the guards." She hastily walked towards the door, the metallic of her heels clicking against the floor.

I looked at the barren walls of her room and saw the shining casing of a sheath. I snatched the blade off the wall, feeling its weight in my hands. "Zel," I said. She turned to me. "Teach me how to fight."

**This was a longer chapter. I don't like how it turned out—I felt that it was too rushed.**

**Note: Psstt...go check out my homepage/blog! It's my online diary! There's a link on my profile.**

**Anyway, I'm sorry for all the delays. I've been working on some professional acting stuff. On top of that, school has been hectic. The freshmeat this year are causing quite a stir-up, which is making everyone else react. Classes are harsh, but fun. Spanish is good—in fact, 'yo soy bien' at it. (Did that make sense? I don't think I'm using the verb 'ser' correctly.)**

**I've also been working on a creative writing novella and been playing with the idea of another fanfic. I'll finish Mercy's Shadow/TriShadow first, of course, but the story I'm planning is going to be hugely epic—on top of that, there's Goodbye Hello to work on. 3 **

**Some inspirations to this chapter—ZREO Music, (Zeldareorchestreted), and one of my reviewers' artwork. Krack_Munkie, you totally rock. Search engine/Google his name and his photo-bucket account should come up. (Yesss, KM, you get some publicity for all the cool artwork you're doing based off of my stories.) **

**A big thank you to all of my readers and reviewers. Even though sometimes I don't respond, I do read your reviews and they really do make me feel special. Thank you all so much.**

**Oh, and by the way—to those of you who have played Windwaker, I recently wrote a one-shot called "A Captain". Check it out.**

** Well, that's it. Enjoy. :)**

**(P.S...Go check out my homepage, there's a link on my profile. It's my online diary of sorts. You can subscribe to it and read it...you know, when you're bored. I'll be updating it fairly often, so go check it out!) **


	8. Chapter 8

**Inspiration has struck again. Progress reports were submitted tonight, and I have ALL A's. Even in my hard-to-understand math class. Woohoo.**

**In celebration, here's a chapter.**

"_As we dance and the sun starts to bleed…"-Treasured by Flyleaf_

The sounds of steel boots hitting the ground echoed across the Hyrule Castle Courtyard, tracing patterns of sound into the air. I briefly listened to the other training sessions, noting that from the way one man sounded, his balance must be off—

"Get that _thing _the hell out of my face," I spat as I found myself face-to-face with Zelda's glistening rapier.

Her expression was distasteful. "Midna, you must focus. In hand-to-hand combat, one second of slipped focus can cost you your life."

"Yeah, yeah, Zel. I'm just going soft on you. Wouldn't want to hurt the princess." My voice was mocking as I twirled my own shining blade in the air, its delicate metal catching the midday light and reflecting it into my eyes.

"Try me, Twilight Princess," Zelda said.

With a quick wink, I took a single step towards Zelda. She immediately raised her sword to fend me off, and I rolled behind her and held my sword against the back of her armor. "_Focus_, Zelda."

She sighed. "You aren't taking this seriously."

"I just have a different way of _coping_—" The Princess of Hyrule took a swing at me with her sword, which I blocked, "—than you do." Zelda swung at me again, and I raised my sword to block hers. She moved her angle at the last second, sending my sword flying. "Uhm, shit," I cursed.

Her lips pressed into a grim smile. "I doubt you would hesitate like that in battle, Midna."

I bit my lip. "Yeah. I just don't like fighting _you._"

I heard the wind of my blade slicing through the air, and I grabbed the handle effortlessly. "Nice aim, wolf-boy," I called.

"Zel," Link called. "Rusl wants a quick session with you." He nodded subtlety at a large oak tree in the corner of the courtyard, where his mentor sat with a shield in hand.

"I see," Zelda mused. "Be good, Midna. Train your mind in my absence." She fluttered over towards Rusl, and I sighed.

"Ugh. It's so…hard…to fight her. I dunno, it's a mental block or something. I can't…imagine fighting her."

Wordlessly, Link took my hand and pulled me towards the shadow of several pine trees on the left-hand side of the courtyard. The shadows cooled my skin, and I let out a quick _ahh._ "I appreciate the darkness, but what was that for?"

Link drew the Master Sword from its sheath. "You don't want to fight Princess Zelda, right? Well, fight me."

I hesitated. "Link…"

His voice seemed pained. "Look at my face."

I looked at his figure, coated in the shadows, and an intense emotion filled me. The resemblance to Dark struck me—and I knew that was what he wanted—and I picked my blade up off the ground.

I thrust my sword at him, and the blades met each other. I strengthened my grip on my sword, pushing against his in a dead-lock, and I kicked his shin. He didn't flinch, so I ducked backwards and withdrew my blade.

Going at him again, he met my sword with his. The light-power of his sword met the weak iron of my own war-blade, and a majestic ringing filled my ears. Rage piled into the back of my throat and I let out a cry of anger, overpowering his blade.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zelda and Rusl gaping across the courtyard. The intense rage took over my body again, seeing Link as Dark in my mind, and I screeched as I lunged for him again.

The power of the Blade of Evil's Bane as it met my sword at the hilt was incredible. The sheer magnitude of it sent my sword flying, and it sent me rolling onto the grass.

My foe approached me, and I knew he had a better angle—if I tried to get up, he could hit me too easily. Quickly, I swept my leg under his feet, knocking him to the ground. As I leapt to my feet, he grabbed me and dragged me to the earthen grass of the courtyard. I screeched and flailed.

His Triforce beat Light Magic into me, and the magic inside of me combated it easily. I felt no pain, only the rolls of vibration as the magic shook my body. I used the pressure of his hand that was gripping my ankle to land a solid kick—

I heard the almost sickening crunch of bone, and I rolled on top of him, grabbing fistfuls of his tunic and screaming unintelligibly.

Strong arms pulled me off of him. "Princess Midna, calm down!" It was Rusl's voice shouting orders and shaking me to sense.

I looked down at Link, who was crouched on the ground. A foot print was embedded in his face—from my foot, no doubt—and the Master Sword was yards away. He raised his eyebrows, clutching his nose, and he smirked at me. "That was better," He said in a rather nasal voice.

It didn't frighten me that I had just beat up the man that I was in love with. He had wanted the fight, and he had played dirty to get me to fight him. That was his problem, then. I shrugged Rusl off of me.

Zelda met his eyescautiously and put her Triforce-bearing hand over his. The beams of light connected and flashed brightly, washing over Link and healing his nose. It reminded me of the force of the vibrations that his Triforce had sent throughout _my_ body, and I shuddered.

"Will Dark fight with his Triforce?" I questioned. If Zelda's Triforce could flawlessly heal and Link's could provide him with a rush to keep him going…what could the Triforce of Power do in a fight—especially in the hands of a malicious Shadow Mage?

"Of course. That is why it is direly important our strategy is followed to the very last step. Link and I are perhaps strong enough to overcome him—with your help, of course. Your magic will not do much against him, especially when he is using his Triforce. That is why…it is important for you to be learning _defensive_ swordplay."

"You're trying to sideline me!" I gasped.

"Midna, please understand…"

"Listen up, Zel, you _need_ my help! You haven't _fought_ him before! He fights…he…" My voice weakened as memories of the crushing blows Dark had delivered to me flashed in my mind. "Killing you and Link would be child's play, Zelda. Don't underestimate that bastard."

"We aren't. That's why we know it would be fool-hearted to send you into a face-to-face battle with him, Midna." Link's reasoning was flawed in my eyes.

But as he said those words, a strange play came into my mind. Zelda was only considering Dark's _power_—his magic, that is—and she wasn't considering his personality. He was _honorable_ in a strange way…sadistic…

If Zelda asked Dark to fight fair, he'd kill her. He'd wipe her out.

If _I_ asked Dark for a one on one fight…

Well, I was going to find out the result.


	9. Chapter 9

**Heya, everyone! Yet another chapter of Mercy's Shadow is here. I'm enjoying the inspiration spree that I've gotten lately, so this story definitively benefits from that.**

**Just a note—this story has several "climaxes" to it. One of them—well, I'm sure that you can guess it. The other one…it's a little bit different. With that being said, you'll see some repeated concepts and some of you might catch onto a few clues that I've been dropping.**

**Okay, I also suppose that I owe you all apologies the delay in releasing this chapter. I have fallen ill with a rather rare chronic illness lately, and my only hope of getting it treated is if I go to the Mayo Clinic…which, with some great sacrifices to get there, I'm going.**

**Onwards!**

'_If I could, I'd lock you up and toss out the key so it's just you and me…my hands will wake for a taste of your skin.'—_Sweet Tangerine _by_ The Hush Sound

It was not hard to disappear.

Hyrule Castle was a vast place, its town was even larger, and the lands surrounding it were enormous in comparison. A person could just slip into the folds of groves and waterfalls, into the springs and the mountains, and nobody could find them.

It was better not to linger or waste time. I wasn't aiming to go and die—no. I was in it to win it. It was just better that Link and Zelda did not know of my plans, as they would object.

But I could reason with Dark, because I knew his wicked personality. He was not the type to kill a person immediately in a fight—no, he enjoyed to play with his food.

And that was his weakness.

My anger was subdued and controlled. This was the calm before the storm for me.

The warp portal rematerialized me on the peaceful sandstone building of the Mirror Chamber. It was the last place that they would look for me, once they noticed my absence.

After all, I had told Zelda that I felt ill and that I would go straight to bed that evening. She probably would not check on me until morning, and that gave me plenty of time.

The Mirror Chamber was deserted, and the late Twilight blew flickers of light with the desert wind. The Mirror of Twilight itself was empty of the mirror pieces, which was not surprising. Dark probably kept them with him at all times.

I knew that Dark would not come to the Mirror Chamber. No—that was too easy for him. He wanted me to chase him.

And chase him I would.

I sat on the gritty steps of the pedestal, throwing my head back into the growing evening shadows. The silence was easy to welcome, and it transferred my state of mind until I was dozing off.

As I was about to go over into the chasm of unconsciousness, I directed my thoughts towards the Light Magic inside of myself. It was hard to channel, and I pushed harder and summoned my powers.

The light flashed across my skin in a quick current, shocking me. The pain was meant to be harsh, and so it was—it stung and bit at me until I was thrown roughly into another type of existence.

The realm of the comatose was not as empty as I thought it to be originally. I knew that the _voice_ was there—the voice that had guided me when I had first gone to the blackness in the Twilight Realm—and so I called out.

"Take me to him."

A long, drawn out sigh came. "O Twilight Princess…we cannot grant your request."

"I'm sure you can't," I laughed charmingly. "He intends to reign destruction down on this realm and the other. Let me end this."

"You cannot hope to fight him…you are without the other Bearers."

A long smile flashed across my face. I felt _his_ presence in the darkness with me, and it was only a matter of how fast he could overpower the voice. "Dark, I have a preposition for you."

"Do not…"

The heavenly voice cut short, and Dark's menacing laughter cut through the blackness.I grimly smiled, my hands brushing against the long and thin sword that I had sheathed underneath my robe.

"Lovely Midna, didn't you bring a date?"

"No, sadly. I ditched him for you," I mocked.

He came into my view, sauntering into my part of the blackness with a sickening giddiness in his steps. "Surrendering?" Dark asked. He seemed genuinely confused—he had not expected me to come truly alone, I supposed.

"Not at all. Like I said before, I have a proposition for you."

His blood red eyes narrowed, calling out to me in the darkness. All joking aside, Dark spoke, "I don't have time for games, Midna." His Triforce pulsed and he clenched his fingers together, preparing a spell.

"Hey, hey! Slow down there, quickie. Either hear me out or blow my head off."

He hesitated, cocking an eyebrow. "You want to kill me, correct?" I asked.

Dark smirked, seemingly amused. "Amongst other things, I suppose."

I hid my shudder surprisingly well. "Good to know the feeling's mutual, then. Anyway, I had a little bit of a…well, _challenge_ for you."

"I'm listening."

"Fight me—without your magic."

His eyes widened and then narrowed, a surprising amount of seething hatred clobbering his facial features.

"You think you're all that tough? Prove it, you bastard. Prove to all of Hyrule and the Twilight Realm that you can _do_ it." My voice rose in tone, but I was not begging him. No, I was screeching at him—demanding a fight. Striking his emotions like a piece of flint—strike, strike—

And then, there was a spark.

"Not here. I'm dreadfully afraid that you're going to pull some spiritual-cheat on me in this comatose realm—you are physically in the Mirror Chamber right now, correct?"

"Yep." I didn't question how he knew that.

He grinned, whispering some jumbled words. The cotton-candy of the comatose world faded out, disorienting me as I re-opened my eyes at the Mirror Chamber.

Night had completely fallen. The stars shone in the blanket of darkness above, the oyster pearl moon glistening amongst them. The moon was full that night, illuminating the chamber in a fog of white-light. Dark stood, casually leaning against me.

"I'm surprised that you are doing something so idiotic, Midna. You're not the type to make a blind move like this…" He pursed his lips, his charade wearing thin. "I'll give you one chance to surrender when we fight—just to be fair, of course."

"Don't hold your breath," I grinned widely.

He drew his sword.

I reached under the fine fabric of my Twili robe and pulled out the blade that I had taken from the castle grounds. It was just an ordinary blade—no special tricks about it—but it had a certain element to it that pleased me. I trusted it, so to speak.

Dark darted towards me, his blade hitting mine with a quick slide. I threw my sword up, blocking him effectively. He withdrew, flipping backwards and striking upwards. I used the hilt of my blade to block his, the clash of steel ringing inside of my head. The piercing side of his blade was close to my face as he shoved against my sword, and I ducked in a roll to get away.

His laughter sang out and chilled me to the bone.

"M'lady," The guard heaved for air, clutching his stomach as he bowed before Zelda, "Princess Midna is nowhere to be found."

Link hissed through his teeth, tightening his grip on Zelda's shoulder.

"Did you check the town?" Zelda asked in a quietly pitched monotone.

The guard shook his head in one swift and fluid motion. At the sight of his conformation to Midna's disappearance, Link furiously yelled "Damn!" and turned away. "Zelda, come on. We've got to go find her."

"Where would she have gone?"

"To find Dark, of course. We'll check Ordon first. Dark's into sick irony, so I'm sure that he'd love to put Midna in that position."

Link was already unsheathing his sword and impatiently tugging at Zelda's hand when the princess blinked her eyes a few times. Link released her hand and she glanced down at the back of her palm—her Triforce pulsed with bright golden light.

"Go," Link told the guard, who more than happily obliged. As the door to the throne room slammed shut, he turned to Zelda to watch her expression. "Zel," He said. "Come on. What's wrong?"

"Not happy," Her voice was a collection of fragmented tones. "They're not happy, not at all, Link. We've got to stop this…we can't—"

Quickly losing his last straw of patience, Link dropped his sword and grabbed Zelda forcefully by the shoulders. "Listen, Zelda. I understand that you are the princess of Hyrule. I understand that you are a Bearer, much like myself. But Midna—the princess of the sister realm—is in danger. I don't _care_ if you are being told not to interfere. Princess Zelda, I took a solemn oath to protect people because I have the _courage_ to do so. Tell me where Midna is!"

Zelda's eyes widened in fear, the bones in her face paling and going hollow. She had a strange and sickly tint to her cheeks, as if she were going to be ill. However, her lips trembled the words, "Mirror chamber."

A high pitched ring emerged from her Triforce, as if it were protesting her words. "I can't teleport you with this, Link. Go, and hurry."

Link released his grip on Zelda and bolted through the doors of the throne room.

There was silence.

My eyes were locked in place with his as our blades held their perfect 'x' that they had been connected in for what seemed like ages. We were exerting the same amount of force, evenly matching one another.

But we didn't say anything for what seemed like ages.

I should have felt it. I should have felt that slight slip in his weight…I should have felt the fine tear of fabric as a slayer's pocket released a dagger through the gloves he wore, giving him one opportunity—

No. The only thing I felt was the stab of a knife in my chest.

And then I dropped my blade.

The pain was great. So great, in fact, that it paralyzed me to the vulnerable position I had fallen in. The shock came, after that, and with it came a wave of disappointment—had I truly thought that I could beat him at his own game?

My eyes narrowed in fury as Dark gently kneeled next to me on the sandy ground near the Mirror pedestal, snapping his fingers to banish his own blade into Shadow Storage. "Now tell me how to defeat Zelda."

I did not respond.

Dark, ever so gently, swept the fallen hair aside from my face, mimicking a sweet gesture. I wanted to fight so badly, yet I couldn't. Black spots danced across my vision. "If you pass out, Midna, I will capture you."

It didn't stop everything from going black.

**Of course this was more of a filler chapter. Not exactly my best work, I'm afraid. However, I'm fatigued (the most horrible symptom of my disease) and I have to go take a nice 14 hour nap.**

**In case I don't update before then, Happy Thanksgiving.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Why, lucky you guys! The 'friend' I let borrow my USB forgot to return it to me, thus not allowing me to work on my novel over break. That leaves this story getting updated.**

**Enjoy this chapter, m'kay? I drew inspiration from some creepy music and awesome DeviantArt pictures that I browsed. 3**

**Mist?**

I could taste it, looming over my body like a bride's vale, clinging to my face as if hanging in a frozen breath. Its freshness and sweetness surprised me—I had not been in the presence of something so pure in quite a while.

And yet, as my memories flashed back and my awakening came to a halt, I realized that the mist was wrong. Underneath was I assumed was pureness was a frightening falsetto. It was not pure. It was impure.

It reeked of Dark Link.

I opened my eyes, taking quick notes of my surroundings. I had never been here before—most likely, it was one of Dark's sick illusions—but it was strangely familiar. It was filled with white mist that stretched over dirt banks, where greenish crystal water sat stank around them.

Had I been there before? Was this a memory?

I stood up, alarmed, without thinking of anything except escaping. A searing pain exploded in my chest and I glanced down, looking at the startling amount of blood that stained my mid section. The stab wound. From the fight.

Sweet Din.

With a rage of hiss, I realized that Dark had captured me.

This was the end of the line…

_Oh, hell naw,_ I thought as I yelled, "You bastard. Come out."

And then, he was there. Like he had been there all along, two feet in front of me, with a devious smirk on his face. "Poor darling. That wound in your stomach looks like it hurts."

"It'll hurt more when I blast you to hell," I told him, not at all shocked at his sudden appearance. His scare tactics didn't work on me anymore.

He sighed dramatically, rolling his eyes. "Midna, you lost. I won. It was your challenge. Such a sour loser."

"You have the Triforce," I glared at him. "Why don't you reach down, find em, and kill me?"

"Because I have better uses for you."

That was enough. I had no time or patience for Dark's sadistic games. I raised my hand in fury to stick him with a bolt of magic, but Dark was much quicker than I was.

I was suddenly lying on my back in the cold shock of the water, Dark pinning me down. He had his hand facing upward, the Triforce brightly glowing. "Please, Midna. Haven't you realized that I've been right all along?"

_Where's Link? _I thought, starting to panic. The coolness of the water spread over my skin and I shivered involuntarily. Dark grinned, automatically guessing my thoughts. "Wondering where Link is? Don't. He can't find us here."

"We're in the Twilight Realm, am I right?" I hissed through furiously clenched teeth.

He shook his head. "This place is even harder to get into. Now, tell me how I'd go about turning Princess Zelda into a puppet. Play nice, Midna, she won't get hurt."

It was incredible—the amount of hatred that bubbled to the surface of my skin in that second. But the hatred was not fresh—no, it reeked of ancient menace and fury; fury that was too slow to go away in one second. Perhaps it was the compilation of all the anguish he had caused me in my life, finally coming back as a weapon.

But it was like molten lava meeting with water—as if a sizzling sound occurred, and the emotions made me cool and emotionless as ice. When I responded, I relaxed and spoke, "Tell me where we are and you might just get an answer."

He smiled, clearly not believing me. "We are in a mere fragment of the past. Link told you about the Hero of Time in Kakariko a while ago, correct?"

It seemed like ages ago. "Yes," I coolly said. "Your point?"

"In the Water Temple in that particular legend, Link encountered someone. Many thought it was a merely ironic puppet, sent from Ganon or perhaps a test of the Goddesses. None thought he was an actual being. He, after all, was a dark doppelganger of Link." Dark finished his words with a smirk, obviously proud that he had managed to go under the radar for so long.

But I had been waiting for him to drop his guard.

"Narcissistic bastard," I hissed, promptly spitting in his face. I immediately rolled to my left in the water, stumbling to my feet and taking off at a run through the mist.

_Fragment of the past my ass. There's gotta be a way out!_

A short and bitter laugh sounded and a wave of Shadow Magic flew out to hit me. It was unavoidable, and its force knocked me into the water again. I groaned in pain, its affect dizzying to me.

Dark, much alike to a spider, leapt to me and pinned me to the ground. In the same instance, I reached for the sword at his side and shocked it with Light Magic, trying to pull it into my own hands. The voltage sent the blade flying from its sheath, promptly landing a few feet away with a haunting splash.

"Dammit!" I screamed, fighting against Dark's hold. He chuckled, strengthening his grip on my shoulders. Water trickled through my hair, unlatching it from its crowned braid and letting its waves run loose through the water, weighing me down. I shook and kicked my legs, but Dark did nothing except stare at me creepily.

"You know, Midna, you're quite beautiful when you struggle."

* * *

The sound of rope sliding through gloved fingers echoed across desert sands, perhaps not quite as loudly as a surprised yell that slipped from Princess Zelda's lips as the makeshift grappling hook yanked her to the top of Arbiter's Grounds.

"Sorry, Zel," Link muttered as Zelda roughly touched down on the cold sandstone.

"My apologies, hero. If someone is atop the Mirror Chamber, we've lost the element of surprise."

Link grunted in response, drawing his blade and motioning for Zelda to follow him up the circular corridors to the top of the chamber. They had reached a dead end in Ordon—Midna hadn't been there, according to the villagers-and it had been a hasty guess on Zelda's part to rush to the Mirror Chamber.

They swiftly walked through the corridors-which, by the second, were filling with pre-dawn light that broke in the desert-and approached the top of the chamber. As they reached the bend to the chamber opening, the hero turned to Zelda. "Princess, thank you for coming this far," Link said.

Zelda turned to him with a sharp glare and rolled her eyes. "I hate to sound alike to Midna, Link, but cut the crap."

_At least I tried,_ Link thought as he shrugged. "Alright, suit yourself."

They turned the corner.

Rays of light fell upon the chamber's sandstone floors and mighty columns, glowing with orange specks of sand as if they were the dust of fairy's wings. The chamber was undeniably haunting, with the large mirror apparatus in the middle of its circular shape-

But it was also undeniably empty.

"Shit," Link muttered, his tone clearly portraying how devastated he was. He slumped to his knees, burying his head in his heads and putting a fist to the sandy ground. They were running out of time, no doubt about it. Midna could already be...

"Link, pay attention. There's blood."

Link immediately snapped his head up, shaking off the frustration. Being frustrated wouldn't help anything-he had learned that quickly in his trek as a hero-and he had to be all business. At least until he was alone.

Then he could break down.

His eyes followed the direction of Zelda's gloved fingers' gesture, the bright gleam of dark crimson standing out against the soft color of sandstone. It started off as a large puddle, and then slurs-"Someone was being dragged," Link noticed. He gazed at the end of the trail, which was a large circular slur.

"A teleport," Zelda explained. "The magic beam would account for the circular pattern."

"So she's alive," Link muttered.

"Don't get your hopes-"

The chamber shook, slightly at first and then growing to a steady quake. Link drew his sword, twirling it in his hands, and Zelda quickly reached into her quiver for an arrow to fire.

"Be not afraid, hero and princess. We are here to help."

Zelda's eyes shot skyward and Link's followed.

"Sages of Hyrule," The princess proclaimed. "Tell us what you know."

**Mehhhh. Lame cliff hanger, of course.**

**So, lots of stuff to talk about. Happy Black Friday (and belated Thanksgiving) to all of you.**

**I'm going to the Mayo Clinic sometime next month, so I'm excited...I hopefully won't be so sick after that.**

**I'm going to start on a new project when I finish Mercy's Shadow-it's actually going to be a WW/TP cross-over, mainly involving Midna as the main character. It'll also deal with some time-line theories, so that's gonna be a lot to tackle.**

**School's going well. Sadly, because of my illness, I miss TONS of school-which makes it hard to maintain my grades, which drowns me in make up work, which makes me neglect things like this story. So, my apologies.**

**If you want to talk to me about...well, whatever...the best option is sending me an e-mail-there's a link on my profile.**

**Thanks so much for reading, everybody, and good luck with your holiday shopping!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I understand that this is amazingly gutsy of me, after such a long absence, to continue this story. If you want to read the long, drawn out Author's Note about why I ditched this fic and then finished it, skip to the last chapter. But you risk spoiling the fic. So, if you'd like to read the rest of this fic, then please, read it and then find yourself staring at the Author's Note at the end. Enjoy, either way.**

**(note: if you're reading this immediately after I published it/you got the alert, please wait a few minutes while I upload the rest of the chapters)**

"Gone."

The agony in Zelda's voice mirrored that of Link's. Devastation. Confusion. A hint of betrayal. Above anything, anger, rage, determination. It swirled together unevenly, creating a dangerously unstable concoction of emotions.

The sages slowly shook their heads, though the action seemed more affirmative than negative. "He took her to the past."

Link sharply turned his head. "To the past? Where?"

"Hero," They began as a chorus. "It is not wise to interfere with what has been designated by the Goddesses, for-"

Zelda, who had been wringing her hands in frustration and sadness, spun fires on her fingertips. The small flames shot out to the ground, dust turning to ash, lighting up the chamber. The sages went silent and Zelda spoke, lips unmoving. Like stone. "Sages. I mean no disrespect to you, nor to the plans of the Goddesses. But Midna...is a friend and a sister. It is direly important that Dark does not end her life."

They shook their heads and the last strand of diplomacy in Zelda snapped. Her voice came out loud and angry. "If the Goddesses so mean to let such a powerful, compassionate woman die, then I must be one to go against their plans. If you do not tell us where he exactly took her and how to get there, I will find it for myself." She grinned, somewhat madly, as her Triforce pulsed once. A light shudder ripped across her skin, followed by a laugh. "I feel it...time. A clock, ticking. A puzzle. Guards?"

The sages were still silent. Fury and disapproval was etched into their faces.

Link leaped to his feet. "Zel. The Temple of Time."

"No time to waste," She reached one long, slender gloved arm out to Link. "I can teleport us into the heart of the Sacred Grove."

A sigh traced the walls of the mirror chamber, presumably from the Sages. Zelda did not bother to turn back and look to them. The magic flew from Zelda's Triforce and soon thereafter, the walls spun and the Hero and the Princess shot up into the sky, flying like stars in the night.

Zelda could only hope that Midna was still alive.

ABABABABAABAABABAB

"We're going to have to go in blind," Link told Zelda, who was quickly slipping her dress off behind the cover of a tree in the Grove. She was always prepared for unusual circumstances, wearing a gray slip-tunic under her dress. She lobbed her dress and low heeled slippers to Link, who tossed her a pair of flat shoes in return and put the dress in the treasure chest that he had raided for arrows right outside of the temples.

Zelda nodded and picked up her bow and arrows, sheathing a dagger at her side. Their preparation was more for any petty monsters left in the Temple, not to fight Dark. Such simple weapons would not do any good against him. "I understand." She looked up at the sky and frowned. It was as though the night would never end.

"Shall we go? Do you remember the way?" She pressed.

He nodded grimly and gestured for her to follow. "I'm not sure what we're looking for. I didn't see any portals when Midna and I were here." Shaking his head, he sighed, "We should have talked to Ashei and Shad before coming here. They did some research here, not that they ever figured out how to get into the interior. They, at least, would know the history. I'm dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to history, you know."

Zelda smiled. "Well, we're just going to have to guess."

ABABABABAB

Inside the temple, inside the dark recesses of the past, it was dark as pitch. Most of the candles were not lit, but at least the place was as empty as a tomb. The monsters had not come back. Zelda and Link were silently grateful, this allowed them to concentrate on the job at hand.

They combed the Temple, finding nothing but grand, empty rooms that had once held so much promise. Seeing no other option, they went back through-looking for something that they couldn't name. All that they had going for them was the basic fact that they were thousands of years in the past...closer to Midna, they assumed.

"Zel," Link begged. As the seconds passed, he felt the odds grow against Midna still being alive. He cursed himself for letting her out of his sight at the castle. For motivating her. For telling her that she would be sidelined in the fight. He gently grabbed Zelda's hand and slouched against a pillar. "There's got to be something. Something in the past. A legend. Anything with a clue."

She bit her lip and panted. She wasn't too used to running and her mouth burned for water, tears fuming in her eyes. "I...I don't know. My Triforce is...not cooperating." Zelda pursed her lips. "I have a feeling that the connection to the Goddesses and the Sages is stronger than we believed. The resistance is on purpose."

"Can you still try-please. Please, Zelda, I'm out of options."

A sigh, almost painful, like a whimper, escaped her. "Give me a moment, Hero." She closed her eyes and clasped her hands. More like a weapon that a prayer, he noticed. He, too, tried. He glared at his Triforce, as if willing his Courage to give him something useful besides skills in a fight. But eventually, his eyes drooped and he slouched further. Not sleeping. Resting. Giving up.

It seemed like the moments following took eternity, but Zelda shook him. His eyes shot open. "In a legend. The legend of the original hero. The Hero of Time," She began, sounding like she had just run a marathon, speaking in clips. "A doppelganger. Your ancestor fought a doppelganger."

"Dark!" He hissed.

"Yes."

"Where?"

"It was an ethereal place. Not really in reality, you see, but still-it was a temple. Like a battlefield."

He shot back a question, impatient and hopeful enough to cause him pain. "Was it in this Temple? The Temple of Time?"

She shook her head. "No. But the room itself, the ethereal place, was timeless. Frozen in time. But this Temple is our best bet. I see the room in my mind. It's musky, misty. Greenish. Swampy. But a battlefield, yes, that's clear to me." Zelda pulled Link to his feet and nearly shouted. "There is no time to waste. We have to find it!"

"How do we find it? How do we get out of here, but stay in the past?"

Zelda yanked him down the curve of the hallway, moving so quickly it looked more like she was floating. He ran to keep up with her pull until they reached the stairs, where they stopped abruptly. She looked up to the windows at the top of the wall. They had bars on them, but they would have to do. "Can you lift me up?"

He put his hands out and she sprung onto them, latching her hands to the bars and peering through. "It's so dark-but-it's...outside? No. Not outside. The moonlight is coming through holes...it's a cave. How can we get out of these bars?"

"My ball and chain!" He grunted. She was heavier and certainly more angular than he had expected. "Jump down and I'll try it."

They were grasping at straws. Hysteria threatened to bleed through their careful composure, but they were trying to hold it all together. Zelda landed lightly on the floor and the ball and chain materialized in his hands. The true storage of the Hero. She had no understanding of how it worked, but she didn't question it.

He swung the ball up and smashed it against the bars. The clang was deafening, but he yanked the ball back by the chain to see the damage. The bars were bent, more light coming through to cast its shadows, but were not broken. He thrust it against them again and a few of them snapped clean off.

"It'll be tight...but I think we can fit through."

He hoisted Zelda up and she reached through, grabbing hold of the ledge. "Can I drop you? Is it a clean fall?"

"Only a few feet," She shouted, voice echoing and wavering. "I think it's sand. Maybe soft dirt. Go ahead."

He shoved Zelda and let her slid down the other side of the wall. Link did not hear the thud of her landing and bit his lip. Was it a portal, then?

Only one way to find out.

He leapt up, short nails clawing the wall, but giving him enough of a jump to throw himself over the window ledge. His shoulders brushed against the bars and he toppled over, out the other side, skidding down-

ABABABABAB

"Link. Link. Wake up, Link."

He heard the faint, high and soft soprano that Zelda spoke in, with the high pulsing of her Triforce shrilling in the background. Something warm radiated on his head and he opened his eyes, looking for the source.

Zelda held her Triforce to his head and smiled. "I probably should have taught you to fall with more grace. You hit your head, the Triforce is not healing anything as there is no 'real' injury. But it should be numbing the pain. How do you feel?"

"Was I out long?"

"A minute, maybe two. Not long."

"Then no time to waste. I'm fine."

She nodded and stood, Link following. "I think this is a cavern." She gestured up to the highest point, where moonlight and starshine shone through dimly. They both turned to look at the window, the bars bent out of shape. "We have to track our movements to remember how to get back. I'm not sure if this is going to work or if we will find her, Link."

"Less talking, Zelda. Let's just...try. And just in case...let's be as quiet as possible."

They tried to communicate silently, or at least stealthily. Zelda pointed to several large, unusually dark and rounded holes in the walls on three different sides of the cavern room. "Tunnel branches. Rooms, maybe," She whispered. "We'll have to scope them out, one by one. Let us make haste."

They briskly slithered to the one on the fall right. Zelda put her hand through the mouth of the hole, immediately losing sight of it. "A barrier...we can pass." Her voice was featherlight. Link nodded, the first bits of tension coming on. He grabbed the hilt of his sword for comfort and habit, and he walked through the barrier with Zelda on his heels.

It felt like heavy, sickly sweet fog, choking him. Not breathable. He propelled himself forward and heard Zelda cough. He reached through the fog and grabbed her, yanking her further with him.

They both hit solid ground, tripping as soon as their sight returned from the barrier. It was dark in this room, too, but more naturally so. It reminded him of Arbiter's Grounds. Like a tomb. Sand and sandstone, a flicking torch in the corner. Treasure chests. Rubies and gold. Zelda and Link scanned the room, not finding much of anything. A coffin in a dim corner. Link pointed and they tip toed across the floor, flinging it open-

A body, preserved uncannily well. At first glance, normal. A young woman. Long, chestnut waves falling over her shoulders. Cat-like makeup on her eyes. Darker skin. Shorter. "Royal designs and jewels," Zelda said in a very matter-of-fact manner, gesturing to a long, ruby jewel that hung from a chain on her neck. It bore the design of the TriForce. She reached out to touch the jewels.

A hollowing scream filled the room and the lanterns on the wall came to life. Poes. The body, not a body, but an undead girl, sat up in her coffin. Her skin crumbled, flaked. Zelda jumped back and the sound of feet against gold coins and sandstone filled the chamber. Link grabbed his sword. "Link, no! Don't! We don't know-you could alter time by killing them!" Zelda shrieked at him, pulling him back. Her small frame shuddered, but her voice was loud.

One of the lanterns clanked, the Poes closing in. Link, unable to make sense of the words, turned with Zelda and dashed from the room. To the fog barrier. The air was stolen from them once again-

The main cavern, seeming much creepier before, felt like an oasis. They tumbled to the floor, gasping for air. Zelda gasped, holding in her fear, and Link moaned while she gathered herself. "It was a battlefield, too. We're close. We're on...the...right track."

Link nodded. "I'm getting sick of the past. Please, I hope that Midna..." his voice trailed off and he made up a new ending to his sentence. "I hope that Midna is in the next room."

Sensing what he was about to say, Zelda nodded. "Me, too. Let us find out." She gestured at the center passage, shaking off the fear into numbness. Link did not bother sheathing his sword, walking with it out at his side.

They paused at the barrier. "Let's just hope that there are no more royal undeads," Zelda murmured before taking a step through.

The fog felt heavy, like the last passage, but it had a certain...smell...to it. Sickly sweet. Familiar, too. It made Zelda gag and she felt Link's hand over hers, guiding her through. She tried to hold her breath, mostly to prevent the smell from getting under her skin, and propelled herself further through.

Strange, eerie green light shone in the room from no particular source. The air was musky, mist hovering over banks. It had the same smell as the fog, the familiar sickly sweetness. She tugged on Link's tunic shoulder. "This is it. This is the room."

He nodded and Zelda plucked an arrow from her quiver, holding the bow low and ready to fire. It was more comfort than anything else. It might be one of her only weapons. She could not rely on her Triforce while on a mission that defied the will of the Goddesses. She had some less-than-advanced spell training, but it might help her. . .

A small, impish gurgle cut through the silence.


	12. Chapter 12

The silence had been broken.

At first, I thought I had imagined the noise. A small echo of two people walking. The subtle crunch of feet on the ground. But they halted and did not resume. The hope inside of me self imploded and my consciousness flickered again.

But then, a voice. A whisper. "This is it. This is the room."

The hope's reaction inside of me attacked my heart again, so strong that I felt it through the pain. That had been Zelda's voice. They were here. But I knew it was selfish to want them here. Dark was watching. It was not safe.

Part of me wanted to tell them to run far, far away. But I could not find my voice. All that made it past my lips was a gurgle that sounded remotely like a cross between a sob and a laugh.

There was one beat of silence, and then I heard the running. Two people. Running across the room, splashing through the water. "Midna? Midna?"

"Here," I fumbled. "Over...here." I could not bring myself to open my eyes. I was lying half on the bank, half in the water. I felt the blood. I had never felt worse. Not even when my magic had been incompatible with my being in the Twilight Realm, when my soul was split. I had never been so sure that death was coming. The emotions in me were drained, all besides the hope.

The footsteps came in my direction. Zelda gasped. "Midna," She choked. I heard her only feet away. She must see me, then. The way she said it was as though she had found my dead body. Startled. Horrified.

Link came, too. I could have cried if I had been able to gather it. I felt sad, but my body could not bring the reaction. "Is Dark here, Midna?" His voice was soft, checked. Trying to hold himself together, and to not startle me. Zelda had not been smart enough. She might as well have handed me a mirror.

"Mhmmm." I fought against the tide of unconsciousness, trying to pull myself up by my elbows. Link stopped me.

"D-don't move, Mid. . .okay?"

I made an affirmative noise and felt the desperate urge to warn them. I shoved the words past my lips, nearly pulling myself under again. "Dark is watching-go, you have to go, leave. Hostage. Game."

"Zelda," Link said. "Take Midna and go."

"No," She told him. "My Triforce may come in handy. The disobedient part of our mission is done—the Goddesses will not let me die at his hands. I can distract him and still get out alive. You...are...not in the state needed to kill him. Nor am I, but I'm not on a suicide mission, Hero. Take her and go. Hurry. I feel him coming." A small keening noise came from her Triforce and I heard her stifle a moan. I could not understand it.

"Will you be able to use your Triforce?" His voice was clipped. I wanted to protest. Dark would eat Zelda alive, and quite possibly literally. "Or is it resistant?"

"I can handle it."

"Don't die, Princess." He made no attempt to sound funny. I realized that nothing about this was humorous, though. I heard Link bend down. "Midna...I'm going to pick you up."

Another gurgle. There was no more energy to do anything more. I felt his arms slid under me. I felt the wetness of my blood dripping onto his skin, soaking his clothes. I imagined a funeral for me. A shallow grave, really. I imagined him having to clean his Hero's tunic to remove the stains I left. The images were morbid and shockingly believable.

He lifted me and took off running. The bouncing movement made me croak in pain, the dizziness spinning the room even though I did not have my eyes open. I felt thick air approaching me.

On the opposite side of the room, I heard a deranged laugh.

The next noise was a pitched cry of Zelda's Triforce. A feel of warmth, growing to uncomfortable heat, enveloping Link and I-

Terror washed through me hard enough to pull me completely under the tide.

ABABABAB

When I woke up, the pain was intense. So intense that I screamed.

I was surprised, shocked, that I could scream. That I was not dead.

My eyelashes fluttered and I looked up, seeing Renado and Telma standing over me. Renado had a needle and stitching string in his hands, Telma had a bottle of whiskey in hers. She looked like hell. Tear stains on her face, eyes red and bulging. "Midna, hon."

"Ughhh," I groaned, too disoriented to do anything else. I struggled to take on the surroundings.

"Does it hurt?"

I nodded and Telma pressed the bottle of whiskey to my lips. It tasted like liquid flames, but the warm feeling of it going down my throat was enough to stifle some of the pain. "Mhm," I muttered, finally registering where I was. My room in the attic of Telma's bar. I did not understand how I could have gotten there from...where had I been?

"Zelda," I croaked. "Where is Zelda?" Sudden terror ebbed away at me, though I felt too dull and sluggish to do anything. I was afraid to move. Renado sighed and started leaning towards me with the needle. I looked away, into Telma's eyes.

"Princess Zelda is safe. She is resting. She came back from the fight incredibly drained, though she's not seriously injured in the physical sense. Don't worry, hon, she's fine." Her voice was strained and I felt that she was not telling me something. I fought against the sluggishness, trying to be more awake. My lips and voice were slow, betraying my mind.

"Physical sense? What...what's wrong, otherwise?"

"Her...power, her chosen power. There's some talk of whether or not she's using it right. It's like it's fighting against her."

I recoiled in guilt. This was all my fault. Zelda's main line of defense was the Goddesses, and because of me, they were not happy with her. Dim flashes of being back...where?...and hearing Zelda moan in pain when she was trying to use her Triforce came back to me. I tried to switch the topic, but could only say in a sigh, "What about Link?"

"Link is fine. He went to go consult with Zelda and Rusl, but should be back soon," Renado chimed in. I flinched as I felt a twinge of a needle and the pulling of thread. "There," he continued. "All done. I had to clean your wounds and stitch them. Your body seems to grow tired of them very quickly-you heal faster than I would have thought."

"How long have I been...unconscious?" Everything was starting to clear up. I could focus on the room and the noises and the people in it.

"A day and a half, I'd say. When Link arrived in Castle Town, you were...not doing well."

"I was dying. I had lost the fight," I recalled. "Stupid, you'd think I'd be better at swordplay. . ."

"You had been stabbed, probably with a machete or a smaller sword. Thin blade, clean cut. And bruises, lots of them-hand to hand combat?" Renado frowned at me and Telma tsked, like I was a little child who had come home after sunset.

More flashes came back to me. Running from Dark in that...place. The past, he had said. Yes, him stabbing me. A bolt of Shadow Magic. You're quite beautiful when you struggle. After that, more futile fighting. Blood. Shadow magic, light magic. . .my Shadow Magic weaker in the light realm, my Light Magic hard and painful to use and pathetic in comparison to the magic from his TriForce. Crawling away. Lying on the bank, waiting to die.

"Yes, hand-to-hand combat. I suck at it," I sighed.

"Well, other than that, there were some chemical or spiritual reactions to magic in you. I think you got it out of your system well enough, though."

I heard footsteps coming up the stairs and I looked at my own body for a brief moment. I was covered in a white sheet, but I could see the ugly stitches and bruises, scars, lining my torso. My face felt raw to the air, too-I assumed that I was quite a sight, so I readied myself for Link's reaction.

He stepped into the room and immediately looked at me, expecting me to be asleep. I smiled a little bit, but there was no humor. Only apology. He frowned. "Hey," I croaked.

"How is she doing?" He asked Telma and Renado, not taking his eyes off of me.

"Good. I recleaned her wounds, they are healing quickly. The worst of the spells seem to be out of her system. She will be able to be up soon, I believe," Renado said.

Link nodded and Telma took the hint. "I suppose I'll go downstairs. It's nearly sunset, so the guards will be out of training soon. I think it would be best if the bar's tender were available." She looked at me and winked. "See you soon, hon."

Renado, too, took the hint. "I will check on Zelda, though there is not much that I can do for her." He bowed at me and followed Telma out of the room, their feet fading down the stairs.

Link's frown turned to a scowl and he sat on the edge of my bed. "Guilty," I sighed.

"You were nearly dead when Zel and I found you," He informed me.

"I remember. Strangely, I think I'm in more pain now then I was then. Shock wearing off, maybe. Too bad Telma took the whiskey with her when she went back downstairs."

Link sighed, eyes narrowing. His voice sounded as raw as my face. "I don't know what kind of suicide mission you were hoping to accomplish there, but...Mid, just..."

"It was stupid. I went in blind. I just wanted him dead and gone. But I'll survive. I haven't had worse, but clearly, I'm healing just fine. How does my face look, by the way?"

"Beautiful."

I chortled. "I don't recall him getting a good hit in, but he might have slapped me."

"There's a bit of a bruise on your right cheek, so that'd be consistent. I want to kill him. Slowly, painfully-"

"Ssshhhh," I told him, reaching for him. The motion felt weird. "Don't say that. We'll all kill him, and do it quickly. Period. Clearly, we have to stick together." I frowned this time. "How did we get out of there? How did you guys find me? What happened with Zelda?"

"The sages wanted us to leave you for dead and Zelda could only get tidbits of information from her Triforce, but we headed for the Temple of Time. That was sort of where we found you. She teleported us out of there before she fought him. As far as Zelda herself...she used some minor tricks to stave Dark off. He didn't lay a hand on her before she escaped. But her magic is not cooperating. She's in a great deal of pain."

I winced. "I want to see her. When can I?"

"She's probably coming. She drags herself out of the castle to come see you a few times a day. You worried her a lot. But me? Midna, I've been crazy."

Sighing, I give him the most guilty look I could to convey my apology. "I know. You looked pretty crazy when you found me."

There was a bit of a silence, and he reached out to stroke the side of my face, a smile on his. "Good thing is you're the most stubborn woman that I know. Not even Dark can get in the way of that."

I smiled back, half of my face feeling the bruise when I did so.

Footsteps came up the stairs and Link stood while I propped myself up further. The effort was well worth it and Zelda walked into the room. She looked at me and broke into an award-winning smile. "Midna, you're awake!"

I was about to respond when I did a double take. She, at first glance, looked perfectly healthy. But at second glance, she was pale and dark purple lined the underside of her eyes. I looked at her arms, where around her Triforce, her skin looked...burned. Red. Raw. Scarred. My smile faltered. "Oh, Zelda, look what you've gone and done," I groaned.

"I'm fine. It doesn't hurt-I'm merely exhausted. I've been getting stronger. I can walk by myself now. The Triforce is allowing me to see the future with more ease now, it seems that I am still blessed with Wisdom. Not as clear as I would like it to be," She frowned at me. "And look what you've gone and done. It seems the Princess of Twilight is not one for taking orders to stay out of the way."

"I already chewed her out," Link told her in a very paternal tone.

She laughed, but eyed Link in a way that told me there was a subject she wanted to discuss. I cocked my head and Link nodded towards the open door. Oh. The bargoers, Rusl, and Telma might be listening. "Zelda, would you mind closing the door? I'm cold."

Link crossed the room and closed it, turning the lock while he was at it.

"Okay, what's up?"

"The flashes," She groaned.

"All bad news," I hissed under my breath. Link immediately put his poker face on in preparation of what Zelda was about to say. It was the face he usually wore in battle, when he was on 'official business.' I battled the panic that I felt coming on. "Go on."

"There is good news. Dark is at a disadvantage. The Goddesses have willed it so. I see his death. There won't be any deaths on our side of the fight...in fact, I don't think the army will be involved at all. It will be personal, quick, and easy. They want him out of the way."

I nodded. That was good news. The idea that the wisest prediction of the future held Dark's death with no fatality on my side of the conflict, that the Goddesses wanted Dark gone...that was all very, very good news. But she had said the flashes in a way that made me think that there was more. "Phew. That is good," I said. I looked at her in the eye and raised a brow. "But what else is there, Zelda?"

Link was a statue, listening with that damned poker face.

"They...they want him out of the way because of his interests. But it is not. . .because of his action...they know he would defend the land-"

A very ominous feeling crept up my spine and I shivered, dread starting to build in my chest. "The land?"

She paused for a minute, biting her lip and looking down at her Triforce as though it were betraying everything that she believed. Zelda looked back at me, eyes moist with tears. "The Goddesses believe that they made a mistake...allowing the Twilight Realm to go on...existing. They had expected that Light and Shadow would need to blend at one time, just in case of Ganon coming back. But you...practicing light magic...but remaining loyal to the Twilight Realm...and being so close with Link, someone who has been chosen by them since the beginning of time itself..."

Now, I spoke through unmoving lips. "And?"

"Midna," A single tear found its way out of her eyes and her voice shook with fear and shock. "They want to destroy the Twilight Realm forever...and have you executed."

The words sunk in and the ominous feeling became an open flame of terror on my skin. The world spun and shattered, like a fist going to looking glass. Smashed, blazing. For the first time in what felt like eternity, a scream made its way past my lips.

They were going to destroy my realm. My people.

The Goddesses were going to end my existence.


	13. Chapter 13

I don't know how long I cried or how many sips of whiskey I downed before dawn came around, but it really had felt like eternity. Link had stayed sober, watching with an expression of a statue, but Zelda had given in and reached straight for the bourbon. She was so spiritual that I could only imagine the heartbreak of her Goddesses wanting someone that she held so dearly dead. They knew that she would see it, too. They did not care. They was no amount of bloodshed that could save me now. The Goddesses were invincible, there was no disputing that.

Every few hours, Link would ask a question and Zelda would answer in a monotone. The Goddesses were coming in their earthly forms soon, she gathered. First, Dark would make his move. Despite everything he had done to me, the idea of a fight with him suddenly sounded like a piece of cake. The stab wound in my chest and all of the other scars were still raw and healing, and of course they hurt, but they were not going to end me. I had a somewhat fair fight with Dark, even with him having the Fused Shadows and the Triforce.

But with the Goddesses, I was toast.

The one question I asked all evening was why they didn't just strike me down like the vermin they saw me as...why they saw it necessary to come down. Zelda had just shaken her head-she didn't know the answer any more than I did. I wondered if they were dramatic. If there would be some kind of a show.

More importantly, I wondered how they would kill me. So as the silence loomed and dawn's rays started to come in the windows, I looked at Zelda and asked her, "What...what will it be like? Do you know?"

She sighed and bit her lip. "The wisest, most clear flash I have gotten is the three of us standing together in Hyrule Field just south of the castle. They are people all behind us, even though in my flash, I'm not happy about it."

I nodded for her to go on, silently conveying my morbid fascination with how I would be wiped out by the one force that I expected would save me. Zelda shook her head...she didn't know.

"What about the Twilight Realm?" Link asked quietly.

Zelda bit her lip. "Currently, it looks like they will destroy the Twilight realm before they come here. A month, give or take...but I'm just not sure...I don't know how they could ignore the potential consequences on this world, on this realm."

Suddenly, the quiet tones and hushed voices we spoke in were shattered. Link jumped up and slammed the mug of coffee he had been drinking down on the bar counter. "Then we're stopping them!"

I looked at Zelda's face for a fraction of a second, then turned to Link and burst into hysterical laughter. "Fight...the...Goddesses..." I choked out, thinking him very clever. "That is HILARIOUS, Link. Absolutely hilarious. But...no. Considering you're a petty human and your main source of power comes from the Goddesses...ha, ha, ha."

He, in response, looked at me like I had lost my mind. "I'm not letting them kill you or destroy your Realm. I'll die trying."

"Link..." Zelda said softly. I looked at her again. Her eyes were tortured. She was writhing, trying to escape the absolutely impossible situation in front of her. Betray the Goddesses and try to fight, not only eternally damning herself, but perhaps destroying her own world all together...or stand by and watch another realm be destroyed, along with her counterpart. "Link, I..."

"We can't just NOT do something, Zel! We HAVE to help. Innocent, wonderful people are going to die and you're not willing to take the risk to help them? I have the courage to do it, but maybe you don't." He was seething, eyes bright and glaring. "I will not stand by and watch them all be destroyed. I don't care if both of you stand idle on the sidelines. I will not."

A hush settled upon us again. The terror in me melted away into sadness, acceptance. I knew that Link would not listen to me if I told him to stand down. At the very least, he wouldn't stand on the sidelines and watch me be executed as some kind of divine traitor. I also knew that no matter which path I took, we would both die. He might not die, on second thought, but I could not see the Goddesses erasing his legacy as a Hero. . .they could erase his mind, I was sure. Or kill him and start his line over. Just a dead end...corrupted...either way, yes, we would both subjectively 'end.'

So why not go down fighting for something noble? If nothing else, my dying thought would be _got ya, suckas_! And I could go to the underworld of afterlife, the hell, the fire...where Ganon and Zant went. Where the bad people went.

If the Goddesses even let me have that.

I looked up at Link, sadness rebuilding itself into a mound of controlled anger in my chest. I flinched as I stood, the wounds still raw._Suck it up,_ I thought at myself._It'll hurt a lot worse soon._ "You're stubborn as a mule, I tell ya. But...still. If you're going to try futilely, pathetically, insanely, and damningly to save me and my realm...well, you're going to try and do it. And I sort of like you, in case you didn't notice, so I'll join your little suicide mission." I messed with his hair and he grinned. It was a challenged grin. A runner beginning his race.

We both turned to Zelda, whose expression was both diplomatic and enraged.

"I can only tell you what they let me see," She said. "Other than that..."

"Tell you what," I told her. As a ruler...I understood her plight. The people of Hyrule were good folk and knew injustice when they see it. They were also well versed in stupidity. If word of what was going on got out, they would stand with us and be brought down by association. Zelda, the only person whose fate was most likely not ending in her getting killed by those she worshipped, could work to carry on life. "You can work on changing your vision. Damage control, if you must call it that. . .you know, make sure this stays cloak & dagger. Make sure your people do not find out. But yeah, in other terms, if you could give us some heads-up on certain things. . .things that aren't going to endanger your faith. . ."

Link was mutely seething, probably not understanding why Zelda would stand by idly. But still, he nodded. Zelda spoke. "That is...a good plan. That is all I can think to do." She hung her head, but looked up and began to be in mission mode. "First thing is first. The people of Hyrule do know about Dark...or at least they suspect, from the festival, that something is amiss. We need a scapegoat. We need something so that let their guard down and business goes back to usual."

"So fighting Dark will be the first and foremost thing."

Zelda nodded, bobbing her head swiftly. "He still wants Midna...I know he's struggling. The Goddesses do want him gone. His Triforce is not...cooperating." Her lips twisted into a wry smile, knowing full well how much trouble he was in. "I think he will try to make a last stand of sorts. He knows his plans are mostly over, but he does want Midna gone...mhm, I see it now. It will be in the oldest part of the castle. The tower across from mine. Very remote...very secluded...our royals who fell ill with the plague were kept there until they passed."

"Plague," Link repeated. "Why would it be there? We could say that Midna is ill. He won't fall for the plague idea. But he's an egotistical maniac. . .he might think he messed Midna up badly. . . We could stage something."

Link and Zelda exchanged a long, hard look, and then both nodded at me. I tipped my head to the side, curious. Link pressed his lips to my forehead, stared at me, and grinned very deliberately. "Think you can pretend you're dying?"


	14. Chapter 14

"Flowers," I spat.

Zelda threw me a stressed, annoyed look from across the room, where she had just closed the door. "That doesn't sound grateful from the lips of a dying foreign princess, you know."

Rolling my eyes, I sighed. "Flowers."

"Better," She chirped, bringing me the bouquet and putting it a vase next to my 'sickbed.' There were dozens of other vases, along with cards and chocolates. People assumed they were sending them to my deathbed, which I appreciated the gesture of, but could not stand how false it was. I was draped in blankets, mesquite netting all around the bed. If someone came into the room, they would see a critically ill ruler. But, under the covers, I had a sword sheathed & strapped to my leg. I was ready to spring into action.

I practiced my hoarse, weak, girly-girl-oh-help-me-I'm-dying voice. "How is Link today, Zel?"

She nodded towards the door. Eavesdroppers-most likely the catty maids-were listening in. Zelda winked and sighed in a falsetto, "He's better. . .well, he says he is."

I went along with it, trying hard not to laugh. "I wish he would come see me...I'm not contagious. It's just-" I let my voice break, in what the gossipers probably thought was a sob, but was really hysterical laughter. "It's just that I don't know how much time I have left." More hysterical, silent laughter. Zelda, too, couldn't help but giggle. Our long-term prognosis as friends sucked (mostly because my fate in a span of a month was to be burning down under), but in the short term, we were having a blast faking my fatal illness.

My wounds didn't even hurt any more. It had been three days since we had mourned our fates at the bar. Immediately after we came up with the idea, I was 'rushed' to the castle's infirmary. Renado was there, of course-somewhat filled in, only knowing that for some reason or another, they needed him to slip information that I was dying of a bad reaction to Dark's powerful magic-and all of Hyrule was abuzz with my soon-to-be-death.

When, truly, I felt great.

"Oh, Midna," Zelda falsely sobbed.

"Don't worry about me," I shot back. "Please, Zelda. I'll be alright for the rest of the day-you can go now...I so wish that Link would come, though." That wasn't a lie. I really did want that stupid, stubborn boy to come visit me. We didn't have a lot of time left together before at least one of us was burning in hell, so I did want to see him more often.

"I'll see you this evening, Midna." She winked at me and draped her gloved arm across her face, biting her lip to look as though she was in emotional havoc, and opened the door.

"Pr-princess! I'm so sorry!" The women outside gushed.

The door shut and I slumped back down into bed. There really wasn't much to do except lie in bed.

Faking a fatal illness really was boring.

ABABABABABAB

It was later that day that Link came to visit me, carrying a tray with him. It was full of dinner items-golden-brown bread rolls, soup, and fresh vegetables, along with two glasses of what appeared to be wine. I smiled widely as closed the door behind him, locking with a click. Rolling my eyes, I threw the covers off. "Din, I'm hot."

"That, I agree with," He laughed, putting the tray down on the table next to me. I reached for the bread and took a bite, giggling. I was slaphappy after being in bed all day. It had been hours and hours since Zelda had come to see me, and darkness had since descended outside. Being in the tallest spire of the castle didn't allow any sound from the courtyard or the town to carry, so aside from the occasional bird call, I was alone. "How've you been?"

"Bored." I spoke in a hushed tone, just in case there were some eavesdroppers in the hall. "And you?"

"I bet you are. I've been good. You'd be surprised at how torn up everybody is. It's hard to lie about you 'dying' when everybody is so sad. Ilia, even." His voice was even lower than mine, but he was close enough that I didn't need to strain to hear.

I grinned. "You'd think that Ilia would be doing a victory dance. Every fangirl of the amazing Hero is primping right now. . .cause, you know, single men need shoulders to cry on."

He laughed. "Sure, Midna. But I have a thing for blue skinned girls."

"I know that," I smiled lovingly. My relationship with Link was annoying complicated. We both felt the same way about each other, but there was no...promise? Security?...in our relationship. Then again, we were both dying soon. "Too bad..."

"Shush. I'm not ready to call this life quits." Link grinned wolfishly, boyishly. He was far too upbeat about this entire situation, I noted.

I rolled my eyes and sipped at the cup of soup. "You're annoyingly optimistic, you know that?"

He nodded. "I'm actually kind of giddy. But mostly about killing Dark."

"How do you know it'll be you that kills him? He wants to kill me, because he thinks he's about to get a whole lot less powerful and knows he'll be fair game to everyone. So killing me is his last goal, or so Her Royal Highness The Fortune Teller says. I could just blast his head off one of these days. Or Zelda."

Link frowned. "I don't like the idea that he's going to try to kill you. We're in such a complicated situation..."

"Do you think he's heard by now?"

"I'm sure. He's not a loner, and he's probably disguised in Castletown. . .listening. Watching in the shadows. Everybody, like I said, is talking about the dying Princess."

"So he'll make his move soon," I summed up, cracking my knuckles jokingly. "Good. Kinda tired of this charade...ready to make an oh-so-miraculous recovery."

Before Link could respond, a lock turned in the door. I flew back under the covers, just in case, but tossed them back off as Zelda entered the room and locked the door behind her. "Good evening, you two."

"Any eavesdroppers outside?" I asked, cocking my head towards the door.

Zelda shook her head. "I locked the door at the bottom of the stairwell. We are alone."

With a more serious look on his face, Link looked at Zelda. Still pissy at her, I thought. Guess I don't expect him to understand. Of course he wouldn't understand-he never had to rule a kingdom. He just had to save one. "Do we have any updates?"

Zelda nodded. "I think so. I've given him a perfect in. He's making mistakes...sloppy. He grew too dependent on his Triforce. Greed always destroys Power, you know. We hired a new fleet of cooks, we do so seasonally. One of them is bound to be Dark in disguise. I don't know which." She bit her lip and glared at her hand. "Wisdom doesn't always cooperate."

I took a sip of my wine. I had never liked wine, but I liked its elegance.

Suddenly, Zelda looked at my glass, eyes going cold for a few seconds. She appeared distant and I swirled my glass while I waited for her to get her little dose of 'wisdom.' My patience was rewarded with a very large, unusually cheeky grin for Zelda. "Wine. He will be in the castle's kitchen tomorrow evening, while they are preparing your tray. He's going to slip a spell in your wine. To sedate you and weaken you. Later in the evening, he'll come up to try and finish you off. He knows when you will be alone."

"And I have to drink the wine?" I raised an eyebrow, suddenly suspicious.

She nodded. "I believe so. Some spellcasters know when their spells are in effect, so I suppose it's best not to risk it."

Link didn't like this idea. "We're going to let him poison Midna?"

"It won't kill her," Zelda assured him. "It will only make her sleep, make her be groggy. We'll be waiting. We'll know when he comes. There will be no danger."

No danger, I thought with a snort. "Seriously, Zel, is there ever no danger? Cause I'm not sold on the idea of drinking poison."

"Do you have another suggestion?"

"Nope. So I guess I'll be drinking poisoned wine tomorrow evening."

Link sighed, but did not say anything. Ultimately giving into the idea, I raised my glass and took a sip.

If I weren't on the Goddesses' hit list, I would be on my knees praying.


	15. Chapter 15

Night came and I went, and I was plagued by dreams of my demise. Of blood. Their terror reminded me of the visions of the future, of the bloody future, way back before Dark kidnapped me back to the hostage realm. Of killing Link. Of darkness. . .of a dead kingdom. These nightmares were pure speculation, though, and significantly less bloody. More of an emotional nightmare. Of the Goddesses, whose faces I could not see-there were merely incredibly bright beings-and their disdain. Of stepping forward, with Link at my side. Of fighting something that I had no prayer of beating. Of pain. . .of falling. . . .

And then I would wake up.

When I woke up, rain was splashing against the glass window of the large room and I felt the cool tinge of air. The stone walls were not warm and it was as though I could feel the freezing rain outside my window.

There was a knock on the door before Zelda entered and locked it behind her. "Good morning, Midna." She smiled at me. "How did you sleep?"

"Like crap. I envisioned multiple outcomes of my death."

Zelda frowned and I knew that she didn't just dream of my death...she knew how it would happen. "I'm curious."

She clearly didn't want to talk about it. "It will be simple. Your nightmares are probably much worse than...how it will occur."

"Will you be there?"

The Princess nodded once. "Yes."

I sighed. "Sorry. Zel. How are you dealing with it?"

"Not well. Which is why I believe it is wise to...have the knowledge beforehand. So it will be not...a shock...when it happens."

The air was thick enough that I don't think the Master Sword could have cut through it. I felt bad for making Zelda feel like a traitor, yet I knew that she had the answers I wanted. "Zelda...I have a favor to ask of you."

Her eyes were pitiful when she met my glance, but she cocked her head. "Anything you want. I am not doing the service that I should be to my fellow ruler, and for that, I will be eternally sorry."

"I'm going to be blunt here. Keep Link alive. I don't care what tricks you have to pull. I don't care if you have to tackle him to the ground while I face judgment, you keep him here and well and alive or I will find a way to come back alive and wreck absolute havoc on your realm. Clear?" My tone conveyed all kinds of frustration and determination, all the rage and passion that was burning in me flowed out with my language.

Zelda nodded. She expected this much of me. "I can do that for you, Midna. I can. And I am truly, truly sorry that I am not being a help as I-"

I cut her off. "Zelda. Don't. Worry. About. It." I emphasized every word. "You have a duty to your realm, to your people, to your very being. The most wise thing for you to do is exactly what you are doing. I should be thanking you for the help you can provide."

Another nod.

The air cleared a bit and I changed the subject. "I could really use a bath and some breakfast, if that's not too much to ask. Being trapped in bed all day isn't nice. And...I hate to sound, ya know, ungrateful...but I could kind of use a change of clothes. I've been sleeping for these for like four days." I loved my traditional Twili outfit-really, I did. Especially in the Light Realm. It was attention grabbing, cultural, and rebellious. But I could only go so long wearing the same thing without it getting dirty and uncomfortable.

Zelda was quick to volunteer to fix this. "Of course! I'm so sorry, I've been so busy with trying to get everything else in order that I have overlooked you. I can have some hot water carried up for the tub, some breakfast...and I can have your clothes washed. You can borrow some of my attire."

One quick look at Zelda's elegant (and beautiful) but very thin frame told me that this idea was not going to work out very well, but I smiled nevertheless. "Thanks, Zel. You're the best."

ABABABABABAB

I soaked in the bath until the water was icy and my fingers resembled raisins, and finally decided I had wasted enough of the day away in the water and got out. I had let Zelda take my clothes and leave a replacement outfit when she brought the bathwater and breakfast, so I made my way to the wardrobe.

A quick snort escaped me when I saw what clothes she had left me. One of her more practical gowns, which wasn't saying a lot-the girl was a fan of corsets and floor length numbers. But the dress, upon further inspection, was not a dress at all. It was a kimono-style outfit, composed of a long, drape-y gold top with a lower, more flexible neckline. The dark blue harem pants, when standing together, appeared to be a skirt. I liked it, even though it was sort of quirky. It was the Anti-Damsel-In-Distress, and even though it was a few sizes too small, I knew that Zelda had pegged me well.

I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror, kind of pleased. My hair was drying in long, casual waves that resembled the burn of fire in this realm, and my eyes were just as fierce as I remembered them being. It was stupid to be vain when my days were numbered, but I could not help it. I thought that I would look broken up, but the girl in the mirror was strong: invincible, the face of a true Princess.

To complete the look, I sheathed the blade at my side. With one last glance in the mirror, I sunk back underneath the covers and tried to pass the time in my mind. It was strange to try and doze off, as I was literally waiting to drink poison. Still...it meant that Dark was coming for me.

I wonder what disguise he had taken on. I wonder if he had woo'd any girls in town. I gagged at the thought. I wondered if he were in the castle at this very moment...waiting.

A grin crept onto my face. Come and get me.

ABABABABABAB

Night came and stole the gray light from the rain clouds outside, and with it, Link and Zelda came up the stairs with a tray. It had soup and bread. . .and the wine.

The poisoned wine.

It looked so innocent. A nice, purple and mahogany hue to it gave it a gleam in the bright, candle-lit room. The door locked behind Zelda, but I knew it was unnecessary. The tower was locked down tonight. "Well." I sighed, suddenly feeling nervous. I tried not to let it show. "What's on the menu tonight, y'all? Poisoned wine with a side of...homegrown sprouts?"

Zelda frowned, and so did Link.

"How long until this takes effect, do you think?" I inquired.

"Probably a very short time after you drink it. You might want to drink it after your meal, all things considered," Zelda responded, eying Link nervously. He looked pissed off, which didn't surprise me. I would be enraged if I were about to watch him purposely down a glass of poison.

But I sighed and burned through my bread and soup. It seemed like it was going too fast. The idea of Dark coming to get me...me being kind of vulnerable...it was putting me on edge. The world was spinning already and I hadn't even drunk the poison.

Time was up, though.

"So before I do this, what's the game plan? Any last minute wisdom, Zel?"

My soul sister looked at me at me and spoke slowly. "We'll be close by when he comes. But we have to be far enough away that he doesn't sense us. That will give us away. So...there will be a delayed response."

Eyes narrowing, and starting to realize that this plan might be a bad idea, I cleared my throat and asked, "How long of a delayed response?"

"Not long," Link promised me. "We're talking a minute. Maybe less. Zelda will know when he's here. His gloating speech won't even be over by the time we get over here."

I gulped. I really had no option but to do this. There was no way to back out.

With a pang of fear and terror, I raised the glass to my lips. "To making the world a better place."

I downed the glass.

Zelda nodded at me. "Good luck, Midna. We will see you soon. This will all be done with." She gave Link one glance and walked from the room.

Then, it was a rush to get the words out. "Midna, I will not let anything happen. Believe me, I will not let him lay a finger on you. I'm sorry that you're going to have to do this-"

"Shush. I believe ya, Link. Always do." I smiled. The room began to swirl and blur at the edges, slowing closing its way in on my focus. The panic was fading and I felt strangely at ease. Link's eyes, the color of sky, were wide and worried. "Now let's kick some ass."

All I heard was his strained laugh, the glint of his teeth, and then the blur completely took me under.

ABABABABABAB

I was aware of consciousness before it was aware of me. I could hear, but I was trapped in the thickets of my mind. I felt heavy. There was fog all over my body, all over its control center in my head. I struggled to turn on the lights, to find the switch that would give me my eyesight and my muscle movements, but I found nothing.

There was a noise that faintly resembled that of glass shattering. It sounded muffled, controlled, and then a small rain of shards.

Sifting through my thoughts, my memories that seemed so not lucid, it was as though I turned on bright scarlet lights in my mind. I was racing around, battering against the poison and the drug to try and open my eyes, to spring out of bed. To grab the blade that I felt at my side.

To fight.

I heard footsteps. They drew closer and I realized that they were too close for me to spring up, even if I had control of my consciousness. Panic was seizing what little awareness I had and I slumped back, not even trying to look awake.

A hand brushed my face and I heard a small laugh. I would recognize its sadistic tone at any time. Dark. I wanted to shiver, to scream, but I was still trying to cleanse my brain of the poisoned wine. It was terrifying to have him so close, with him hell bent on killing me, and yet I was paralyzed.

And he knew it.

"I know you can hear me, Midna," Dark whispered. And then he laughed again. "But you can't even lift a finger to fight me. Frustrating, isn't it? The poisoned wine was easy. You were easy to get to. Already weakened by your little suicide mission the other day, it was painfully simple to lay out."

I found the control of my mouth again, but it was so sluggish and rusty. "You sociopathic bastard," I whispered. It sounded to be more a slur, a weak purr rather than the powerful comment I had meant it to be.

How long had it been since he had broken in the window? How long until Zelda and Link got there? What was taking them so long?

I felt a small twinge inside of me. A tap that echoed all over my body. I swear that it made a sound, like the echo of a word. It rang in my ears, though I did not understand it. I wondered if I were hallucinating. I threw myself against the fog in my mind, trying to open my eyes or kick a leg. Such a simple command. So out of reach.

"Well, I suppose that I had better get on with it. I'm on a bit of a deadline and you, Midna, have caused me quite a bit of grief. I can never be too sure with you, with what you're up to. Quite the clever ruler." I heard the sound of a blade being drawn.

Though my words were weak, I could not help but challenge him. "It's amusing that you aren't using your Triforce to kill me." I knew that he wasn't aware that I knew his Triforce was rebelling against him. He didn't know that his fate was to be slaughtered.

He laughed, but it had a false note in it. Ah ha.

It was then that I started to panic. I felt it, like an open flame on my body, crawling up my limbs. Something was wrong. Link and Zelda were not here. They should be here by now...

I clawed against the walls of my mind, of the poison, of the sedative, of the overwhelming urge to sleep-

"Goodbye, Midna. Burn in the afterlife."

The sound of his blade slicing through the air jolted me and the noise, the tap, the twinge inside of me, exploded. It burned electrically, spiritually, flowing across my skin like armor. I felt something, oddly like me pushing, and I heard the blade fall from his hands. The twinge raced to the back of my mind, clearing the fog like a lantern.

My eyes shot open. "Don't be quite so sure of yourself."

I sprang up out of the bed and Dark flew back, scarlet eyes wider than I had ever seen them. I had caught him off guard and I took a quick look at myself. My kimono-jumpsuit glowed bright white, as did the palms of my hands.

Just like in the Twilight realm, when my light magic flowed to save my life.

It was sickly ironic that the Goddesses would let my light magic freely flow now, when it was needed to save my life, simply to speed up the process of getting Dark out of the way. It was as though every blow I delivered to Dark would actually be chipping at me.

Still, I would use it.

"You," I hissed. I lunged for him, not bothering to draw my blade-not when his own weapon was on the floor by the bed after my magic had deflected it. I felt high on adrenaline, on the magic, on the sudden clarity of my mind that had been cleansed of the poison. I was invincible. Dark fired a bolt of Shadow Magic, which I dodged easily and raised my hand, blasting a wave of Light Magic. It threw him against the wall and I flexed the power like a muscle, thrusting my palms out-holding there. "You sick, sadistic, cursed reject. You took on Link's appearance for whatever reason. No, not whatever reason. Because you're sick and you dragged yourself out of the pits of hell. You disgust me, you swine-you absolute swine! You are blessed with the Triforce and assume you can never be defeated. Zelda was right. Greed really does destroy Power. It corrupts it, infects it. How is it working out for you, bastard?" I shoved the barrier harder, giddy with my power. He flinched and his eyes burned, but I showed no mercy. "I said how is your Triforce working out for you?" I thrust my palms up and the magic carried him up. I dropped Dark to the floor and laughed. Like a maniac.

I was vaguely aware of the two other people climbing in the windows. It brought me down ever-so-slightly from the high, back to reality. I let my eyes focus on Dark, who was getting to his feet. He fired off beams of the Shadow Magic he so desperately clung to and they hit my skin. I did not move. I did not feel the pain.

"But," I said. I walked to him. "I will not be cruel. I will never be you, Dark. I win. You lose."

He spit a laugh at me, but his eyes knew that it was over. The shocks of power that he sent at me were absorbed into me. I shook my head and turned to Zelda and Link, who were looking at me with perfect patience and awe. "If you two have anything to say, it'd be a good time." My voice dripped with sarcasm, but I truly was sincere.

They shook their heads and I looked at Dark. "Any last words of wisdom you'd like to grace us with?"

Dark knew that he could not escape. That this was his end. He looked at me and laughed, gasping for air as he did. It was a laugh that said he knew something. He cleared his throat. "I'll see you soon, Twilight Princess."

I nodded once, firmly. My skin was starting to cool, to darken again. The high was wearing off. A sign. "Be gone with you," I whispered. It was as though I let every ounce of pain that I had stored up from the last years and let it flow through my words, giving a command. The power radiating from me obeyed. Sparks of gold and white flew from my finger tips and onto Dark. They enveloped him, encircled him, tightening, glowing brighter and brighter. And then, the sparks faded.

All that was left of the man that had torn my life apart was a dark black cloak. Underneath it, familiar shapes. . .not bones, I breathed a sigh of relief, but items. I knew their shapes, knew what they were.

I stumbled backwards, falling to the cold stone floor. The high wore off. My hands slowly faded from glowing white to dim luminosity, to absolute nothingness. With the power gone, I felt the wounds. I felt the ache in my chest, where the residue of pain from the fight the other day had been reawakened by one of Dark's attacks. I became aware of a slow but sure ache spreading through my limbs, more of a soreness than a real jab of pain.

It was exhausting, and I found myself unable to fight against the veil of unconsciousness that closed its hands around my neck. My eyes closed and I floated out into the dreams and nightmares with absolutely no worries.


	16. Chapter 16

I woke up after what seemed like sleeping through an eternity of PR messes and crowd control. I knew that I really hadn't been dreaming when I woke in the room and found the door to be slightly ajar. I felt the soreness from my stomach, felt the ache in my body, and realized that really, I had-

"Good morning, Midna."

I sprung up and rolled out of bed at the sound of someone speaking to me, my guard all the way up. I followed the sound of the voice and my eyes fell on Zelda, sitting on the window sill and smiling apologetically, hands up in surrender. "I apologize-I didn't mean to startle you."

Shaking my head and sinking back down to the edge of the bed, I spoke. "No-sorry, I'm just...antsy. Wow. Head rush. Did I really do that?"

Zelda nodded. "You really did. We were so worried. He nearly sensed us. We had to go all the way to the base of the castle and make our way up, so we took so long...Link nearly throttled me for the worry it caused him! But alas, you were all well." She raised an eyebrow meaningfully. "In fact...more than well. You were holding your own. Midna, what was the magic you were using last night?"

That's right, I thought. I never told Zel and Link about what happened in the Twilight Realm. Suddenly, I was self conscious and a little wary. I had a gut feeling that this was not something I wanted Zel to analyze. Yet..."Well, it was Light magic, in case you didn't get that."

"But Midna, it was unfiltered, pure Light magic. I've never seen someone other than a very powerful mage or a Triforce bearer use it." Her brow furrowed. "And when you're first blessed with pure Light, it is not something you use as skillfully as you did last night. Which leads me to believe that you are no stranger to this magic."

"Woah, woah, woah." I put my hands up in surrender and shook my head. "I have no idea why I'm using the magic, okay? I've had it a few times before. When I was...in the Twilight Realm with Dark. I thought I was going to wither away. I thought he was going to kill me. And I just...got the power. It was so hard to control. I tried to balance it, you know? I thought I could use not only the magic of Shadow, but that Light magic. It didn't work that well. It split me in two. Pretty ugly. No, seriously, there was a seam down the middle of me. But when I went through the Mirror, I was back to normal and the Light magic completely left me besides the simple spells that I've learned."

As I spoke, Zelda's eyes glazed over and looked as though she was in a trance. "They never expected you to...balance. To try and balance. They wanted to discourage that-what about the book?"

I froze for a brief second, but she kept speaking. "It was like they were giving you a way out...a way out of this. But you didn't comply. You defied the expectations. Light and Shadow...two sides of the same coin-but not the same face. They're supposed to be separated..."

"Wait, Zel. Slow down, I'm not that bright. You're saying the Goddesses wanted me to abandon my Shadow magic? And their pitch was letting me borrow the pure Light magic?"

Zelda nodded, her brow still furrowed. "I don't understand this...I've never heard of something like this. They had already thought of destroying the Twilight realm, but they almost wanted to save you...but you did not cooperate with their plans. Neither did-Tetra?"

Of course she would know about Tetra. "Ssh, please. Spirit Guide. She was my spirit guide. And she was Link's mother. She told me to watch out for Link, that there was more to this than Dark..."

"Link's mother?"

I flashed across the room and covered her mouth. "Ssh, PLEASE, Zel. You have to keep it down. He doesn't know. He shouldn't know. He just shouldn't. I think a part of him still thinks that his mother is alive and I don't want to crush that, okay?"

One stark nod from her told me she understand. Her small frame shook, trembled. "I've never seen anything like this, Midna. What have we done?"

"We haven't done anything. This is my screw up. My bad."

But a part of me wasn't quite so self sacrificing. Couldn't the Goddesses see how much Link, Zelda and I loved each other? Zelda and I really were sisters. Link and I...I couldn't dispute my heart felt. Nor could he. We had gone through hell just to find each other again and I would not lose that. At the same time, I would not lose myself or abandon my people, my homeland. Why was that bad? How could that do something so wrong that deserved divine execution? It angered me beyond belief.

"I don't understand," Zelda sighed. I saw it then, that she was torn in two. Just as I had been. Between Light and Shadow. Her heart and her soul.

"I'm so sorry, Zel," I muttered.

She shook her head, eyes going back to normal. Back to reality. "Link wanted to talk to you, but after you lapsed out into unconsciousness, he almost immediately left."

"Where did he go?"

"I haven't an idea."

"Who knows that I'm not dying now?" I asked, walking over to the mirror by the wardrobe. I had no bruises, no indications of a fight. "What did you tell everybody? The public story?"

"The truth, somewhat. We released a case that told the citizens of Hyrule that we had been trying to capture or kill an evil man and that you were used as bait. Most everyone is relieved that Midna isn't dying-you're a fan favorite, it seems-and so the story is being ignored. Nobody notices the obvious flaws."

I nodded, pulling the wardrobe open. Zelda had washed my Twili clothing and it hung, fresh and crisp, on a hanger. I yanked the kimono that Zelda had lent me off and put it on another hanger, putting my outfit on instead. Its familiar feeling of hugging my skin, of the breezy cutouts...it was comforting. It reminded me of home-my home, my people. My people who were doomed.

I frowned. Or were they? What did Link have up his sleeve? What could he possibly hope to accomplish? There was no way that he could save my realm. There wasn't any possibility that, even if everyone in my realm fought, the Goddesses could be overstepped. No. Impossible. But...

A sudden thought occurred to me and I turned on my heel to face Zelda. "Zel. Where did Dark's cape and his items go? Not to mention his Triforce."

"His Triforce...I do not know. Whether the Goddesses themselves hold it, to wait and see, or if it goes to the next most powerful person as it usually does..." She frowned, frustrated. "It is an usual situation. His items, however, are right over in the corner. I assumed you would not want them moved."

"Good guess." I walked to the corner of the room and opened the small chest that Zelda must have put them in. When I saw its contents, I grinned. The Fused Shadow helmet-something I had worked so desperately hard for-was there, and I picked it up. I snapped my fingers and it evaporated into my Shadow Storage. A simple trick. The other items-his blade, his cloak-I did not touch. It seemed wrong to take them. But two large shards caught my eye and I released a breath I didn't know I had been holding. "The Mirror Shards that he broke off," I breathed, relief flooding through me. "And the Fused Shadows."

]

Zelda nodded. "I am glad that he still had them in his possession."

I summoned the Fused Shadows again, holding the helmet in my hands. It was bulky and heavy, and certainly not fashionable. I turned to Zel again and smiled at the delicate tiara she wore on the crown of her head. "Yours is prettier." I tossed the helmet up, snapped my fingers, and it dissolved once more.

It felt good to have them back.

Something felt off to me, though. Something I was missing, overlooking. I sighed and turned to Zel. "Well...I guess I should go find Link...since my time here is done."

Zelda's lips turned up in yet another apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry, Midna, that I cannot help you further."

"S'all good, Zel. You've got your duties, I've got mine."

"Will you and Link need rooms tonight?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Like I know. I can't see the most likely outcome of the future," I teased her half heartedly. I walked past her to the window sill, staring at the hole that Dark had broken. "Sorry about that, by the way."

Zelda shook her head. "Of all of the things to apologize for..."

I opened the window and stepped out onto the sill, snapping my fingers and dissolving, just like the Fused Shadows did just moments before. It was the most ethereal feeling, falling through the sky in particles and holding nothing but your own soul.

It was a good thing that I always came back together in one piece.

ABABABABABAB

There weren't many places that Link would be, so it was not difficult to find him. As I walked through the busy square, townspeople waved and pointed. A few of them, I knew. A few shopkeepers, some 'usual' cafe patrons, some of the guards.

It made me happy to know that they did not know of the impending reality.

I walked down alleys and into Telma's Bar, not surprised to find Link there. He was sitting in the back room at the table with a few members of the Resistance-Ashei, Shad, Rusl. They looked to be in a heated discussion, Ashei's face contorted in rage, Rusl's strangely sad, Shad looking mildly ill, and Link looking fierce as ever.

"Midna, hon," Telma called to me from the bar. "Heard about the little stunt y'all pulled." Her eyes said more, though. She knew something was still enough. Curse her and her freakish insightfulness.

"Always fun to play dead," I told her. "Is noon too early to have a brew?"

She rolled her eyes and poured me a glass of rather mild ale. I didn't complain, instead raising my glass and walking to the back room to join the discussion.

"Midna," Ashei began. She stood and smashed her fist on the table. For such a thin, beautiful girl, she had quite the attitude.

Somebody had fired her up.

I looked at Link and narrowed my eyes at him. He did not tell them about what was happening-he wouldn't. Couldn't. REALLY shouldn't. "You didn't," I groaned.

"He did," Ashei said.

"You can't!" I exploded, pulling out a chair, slamming my ale down on the table, and slumping. "Link, the whole point of this fiasco was so that nobody knew!"

Shad and Rusl wisely remained silent, but Link spoke. "Mid, there is an active threat to your realm and that could have huge consequences on our world. You can't expect me not to tell our best group of mortal soldiers."

I was about to speak, to continue chewing him out, but Ashei stopped me. "You're the Princess of the Twilight Realm, yeah? We aren't going to let any one or any thing hurt you or your realm. There's got to be some reasoning involved here. If we could just do something that would show the Goddesses that the Twili are harmless and could be friends to the people of Hyrule, I think that they would reconsider!"

Her words touched me a little bit. For someone as passionate as Ashei to be concerned for my realm, it was...well, kind. But I glared at Link. Now, these people would be putting their souls in jeopardy to help prove a point. It seemed morally wrong.

But I knew that the Resistance was just as stubborn as Link. Now that they knew, there was no stopping them. I sighed, frustrated, but sat up straighter and took a sip of the ale. "Alright. Fine. Get yourselves brutally slaughtered by ethereal beings. Sounds like fun."

They all laughed and Link grinned. "Knew that you'd be reasonable, Mid. Okay, so, we've been throwing some ideas around."

"Sounds productive."

Shad looked up at me and nodded to himself before speaking to me. "Link and I were wondering if, when you killed the man you refer to as Dark, he had the Mirror Pieces. Link had mentioned to us that he had taken them again."

"He did," I said. Rusl wrote something down on the corner of the much used-and-abused map on the table. "Among other things. Like the Fused Shadows."

"Good," Ashei smiled. "Then my plan sounds most effective."

I raised an eyebrow and Link nodded at the map. "Ashei had this crazy idea..."

"Crazy is my specialty," I said, offering an encouraging smile to Ashei. Honestly, any idea on how to try and stop the oncoming situation was crazy. There was no scale any longer. "So go on."

"She thinks that we could, in theory, go to the Twilight Realm and do some kind of...an evacuation."

"Where would we evacuate to?" I tried to smother any idea of hope inside of me, to not get my hopes up.

Rusl gestured at the map. "Two different places, I believe, would be suitable by what Link has told us of your people. They, without some kind of Light Magic, are shadows in this realm and are not very 'comfortable' per say. We think that the Zoras would be willing to accommodate them well enough. Shad theorizes that the Zoras and evolutionarily closer to your people than normal Hylians or mortals."

I nodded, pretending to understand that. Besides the blue skin, I didn't see a lot of common ground. "Okay. . .but being a shadow can be so. . .I don't know how to explain it. Is that the only place?"

"For permanent solutions, yes. It would be a good example of how the Twili are good hearted and would be willing to help contribute to the wellbeing of their sister world. But as any kind of temporary oasis...I had a crazy afterthought," Link smiled at me. "Where you were being held...the other day...in that area of the Temple of Time. I'm wondering if...what your people would be like in a place really made of spiritual matter and memory," Link rambled and explained all at the same time, expressions ranging from frustrated to hopeful.

"But they would, for the majority of the time, hang with the Zora's, yeah?" Ashei confirmed.

"I believe it would be a good fit," Shad told us.

"But what will this do to the cause?" I asked, starting to see the obvious flaws of the plan.

"The Goddesses don't want to destroy this realm. . .so if all of the Twili's are here, it puts them in an odd position."

"Okay," I said. "But you have to understand that not everybody in the Twili realm is good. I mean, think of Dark's tribe. And not everyone will be open to this idea. They might think I'm dead, honestly."

I sighed. Who was I kidding? Of course they would think that I'm dead. After seeing something that displayed Dark's true, not-so-good nature, and me telling them who was in charge while I was gone, before doing a leap of faith through the mirror...well, it didn't look good.

Link contemplated that for a minute. "True enough. But, clearly, you're not. My concern is how quickly you'll be able to help people round up their belongings and get over here. We don't have much time."

It suddenly occurred to me that the Goddesses could know exactly what we were planning. After all, they were Gods. If that was true, though, then why hadn't they stopped us yet? Was the line to the heavens more...hazy?...than I had originally thought? I shook my head and got back to Link's question. "Good point. I hate to do it, but I might have to bring along. . .a few friends."

Ashei's eyes lit up like candles. So did Shad's. Rusl and Link stayed quiet and calm.

"Ashei and Shad, you can come," I grumbled.

"Thank you!" They chorused. They sounded farrrrr too happy about the idea. I suppose that it would be an exciting adventure to go to a realm where there are no mortals, only outcasts, only beings of Twilight. Still, they failed to see the danger in the mission.

"I think it might be best if I stay," Link began.

"No," Rusl told him. "You need to go with Princess Midna. I can hold down the fort here with Zelda, I am sure. Nothing bad will happen here."

I exhaled. I did want Link to come with me. . .he had never seen my realm. A part of me was scared that if he did not come now, he would never get to. "This is a crazy plan," I smiled. "But like I said...crazy is my specialty."

And so began the impossible suicide mission to save the condemned.


	17. Chapter 17

The first thing was a relatively simple task-talking to Prince Ralis of the Zora Domain. While he was a kind and courageous young man, he was not used to making hard hitting decisions and I sort of pitied him for the position that he was in.

I decided that it would be best if I took Link, Ashei, and Shad with me to the Domain. I would have loved to take the scenic route-Northern Hyrule really was beautiful-but time was an issue.

So I had a bit of fun warping Link, Ashei, and Shad-as well as myself-to the Domain. Ashei and Shad had never been in a warp portal, always observing magic and never being a part of it. We gathered in a circle just outside of the town gates and I gave a sly grin to Link.

"Everybody keep your hands, feet, tails, hair, swords, and souls inside of this circle. No promises on if your facial parts come back together in the correct place or not."

Ashei laughed and Shad paled.

I felt the magic-one of the easiest spells I knew-come alive, dissolve us into particles. I felt the wind on every part of me, spinning, spinning-falling back to earth, together, one piece, landing in the water of the main throne room of the Zora Domain.

The two inexperienced adventures came up from the water gasping for air, eyes wide and disoriented. Link, this time, laughed with me. "Don't feel bad," I said teasingly. "Link freaked out the first time I warped him."

Link grinned. "We'll have to tell them alllllll of the good adventure stories, now that they're insiders."

I smiled and paddled to the steps, stepping onto the dry ground and shaking my hair. It was latched back in a ponytail, spiraling down to my waist in relaxed, half-hearted waves. The water dripped off of it and Link pulled himself up next to me. I turned back, amused, to look and Ashei and Shad. They hadn't spoken. They were looking at the majesty of the coral-built throne room, painted with the early afternoon's sun. All of the variations of the color blue came alive and some guards and Zoras stared at us as we observed the two mortals that were bravely devoting themselves to our cause. "Well, c'mon. You can't sit and gawk all day," I chided playfully.

They paddled to the steps and stood up. Ashei's black samurai suit clung to her skin and she shook her hair out. Shad looked as though he were about to have a heart attack. Still laughing, Link walked up to the throne room guards, who immediately let him through the arch way.

"Link!" Ralis cried. I heard him stand and give Link a high five. A ruler, but still a boy, I thought. I rolled my eyes and motioned for Ashei and Shad to follow me in. The young Zora prince looked at me and broke into a grin. "Princess Midna."

"Prince Ralis," I acknowledged. He reminded me of myself when I first took rule. I hoped that he never lost his child-like happiness, innocence, brightness. It was a light that drew people to him when they were in the dark, and it was a good tool to have. "These are Ashei and Shad, uhhh...you could call them mercenaries. Except Shad is a scholar. But mercenaries. Operatives. Ya know."

He cocked his head to the side. "It is my pleasure. I would hope that all is well-I heard about the one called Dark Link and his attempt to kill Midna, as well as his history." Ralis shook his head, troubled. "Peace seems to elude all of the rulers of this kingdom, as well as yours, Midna."

"Seems to," I scoffed.

Link threw me a look that said how I wish you were more of a diplomat before speaking. "Everything's great, Ralis. Really. But we do have a bit of a favor to ask of you in a very delicate situation."

Ralis motioned for his guards to step out of the throne room's chamber, which they quickly did. Link continued speaking. "I can't tell you everything. . .but we do have, as I said, a favor."

He didn't even protest at not being able to know everything, but I took over the conversation. "A bit of a favor as in a pretty huge favor. There's an...uhm...issue...and I need to evacuate my realm. Or, most of it." I highly doubted the Dark Tribes would want to leave and go to the light realm under my command. "And Shad had this theory about where my people could stay...while they had to stay here...and he thought that the Zora Domain would be a good place to try. Something about evolution."

The young prince furrowed his brow. "You need a place for your people?"

I nodded.

"Then it shall be done-I owe my life to you and Link. The Zoras would love to host your people, Midna. Are there any needs of theirs that will need to be met?"

"Not really. Most of them are pure Twili and have no Light Magic inside of them, unlike myself. When Link and I-" I left out Dark, "fought Ganon, I was fatally wounded. On top of the magic that Zelda had lent me, the Goddesses instilled Light in me to bring me back. So I may thrive here in the Light Realm as a full being. My people will be shadows-physically touchable, but shadows nevertheless. Honestly? They'll just need a cool place to hang out. The Zora Domain has all kinds of water, caves, and ice-it is more temperate and forgiving than the rest of the kingdom."

Ralis nodded and Shad and Ashei exhaled. "It will be no problem. When can I count on them to start arriving? A heads up would be helpful. I will need to address my people."

I bit my lip and contemplated for a minute. "I'd say three days. I'll escort them."

"Then so be it," He smiled.


	18. Chapter 18

"Can I come in?"

I jumped at the sound of Link's voice at my room's door, glancing up at the skylight, where streaks of gray and white were starting to color the horizon. It was barely before dawn, barely before Ashei, Shad, Link and I were going to leave. It would not be a long trip, it would be a matter of moments as we would walk out of town and warp to the Mirror Chamber.

Looking up from the small pack that I was stuffing, I smiled at Link in my doorway. "Sure thing."

He walked in and put his pack down on my bed. "You're lucky," He sighed. "You can put your whole pack in your Shadow Storage."

"Can't you use your...err, magical storage thing to hold your pack?"

Link frowned and shook his head. "Nope. Only...weapons? From my quest. Maybe they're composed of ethereal matter or have some kind of special lining. I'm not sure. But either way, I still have to do most of the heavy lifting."

I smiled again. "At least Ashei and Shad won't be alone in having to carry a pack." My smile went away as I thought of the immediate future. I was slightly concerned that the Sages would give us a problem at the Chamber, but more than anything, I was worried about what my realm would have to hold. I had left in it in the hands of a good but inexperienced politician. I did not know what people thought of me. I would have to explain bringing three Light Dwellers into our realm...

"Don't make that face, Mid," Link told me, messing up my hair that I had since pulled out of its braid from earlier.

"What face, wolf-boy?" I asked, sighing and turning away from him to suppress a smile.

"The worry face, Princess. You get it when you're freaking out. And I don't want you to freak out. Everything is going to be okay, I swear." I could not resist sneaking a glimpse at his face and a small smile escaped me.

"You know, Link...this is silly. And stupid. But mostly silly." I turned away from him again and sighed heavily. "You are going to get yourselves killed. Or...eternally damned. I don't think hell is supposed to be fun."

I did not admit it, but I was scared of what the future would hold. Of what it would be like to die at the hands of the beings that we had completely trusted our lives to. More than anything, I was scared what the immediate future would hold...of what my realm would be like. I had only been gone for, what, a month? A month and a half? But I knew that things could change very quickly.

"We won't get ourselves killed or eternally damned, Mid," He sighed in response.

"Stop getting your hopes up, Link. I know that no matter the outcome of my people-of the mess that it will create for the Goddesses-that I will still be a very accessible...target. I will be out in the open and I will not run from my destiny. This is the destiny that I have been given and yes, then, I will be killed and will be eternally damned."

Link's eyes narrowed and his voice dropped. "Who said that you couldn't fight destiny?"

I frowned and kissed him on the forehead. "You're an idiot, you know," I told him teasingly. "There's not a single thing that you don't think is fightable."

"Which is why what I'm about to do is very smart."

Raising an eyebrow, I stepped away from him and looked at my pack. Time was getting away from us-it was nearly dawn. Nearly departure time. "Do me a favor. Warp us to the Sacred Grove before we go to your realm."

"You're getting your sword?"

He nodded. "It makes everything...plausible. Fightable, like you said. Plus, it can never hurt to travel with the Blade of Evil's Bane."

"I don't like this idea. Any of it. But I know that you are all too stubborn to listen to any kind of reasoning, so I'm letting you all get yourselves killed. Selfish of me, really. But why would I be worried about good deeds and altruism now?"

Link sighed and nodded at the skylight. "Shush, Mid. It's time to go. I'll bet that Ashei and Shad are already downstairs. They might strangle me for causing them to take a detour and delaying the trip."

I shook my head and laughed. He was probably right-Ashei and Shad were so antsy and excited about getting to see my oh-so-exciting realm that they might melt into greasy puddles at hearing that we would have to stop at the Sacred Grove first.

ABABABABABAB

The first streaks of gold were starting to mark sunrise as the four of us walked south of Castle Town into the fields. A few birds sang their alarm-clock morning songs, but other than that and the shuffle of our feet, it was silent.

"Before we go," I said. I turned to Ashei and Shad. "I want to tell you two something. I know you are both super smart and not one for stereotypes, but I'd like you to disregard everything you think you know about my realm. There are bad people there, true, and I'm going to try reallyyyy hard not to let you guys run into them, because they would think that I've brought them a sacrificial snack-but for the most part, my people are good. Odd and unorthodox, maybe, and perhaps we have some freakish traditions, but they're good people."

Link nodded. "She's completely right."

Ashei and Shad, who were both dressed in leather and fur outfits and looked a little pale, also nodded. Shad spoke. "I will treat your people with the upmost respect and dignity. To think that it is possible for mere mortals to go through the Mirror of Twilight and see the Twilight realm...incredible!"

"Ya know, Shad, all I took out of that is treat people with respect and dignity. So okay."

They all laughed. "Okay, first stop, Sacred Grove." I snapped my fingers and the magic overtook us as we spiraled through the air, just pieces of people diving upwards through the sky, landing back down to reality in the misty woods of the most legendary place in the Light Realm.

"I will be right back," Link emphasized the last two words, but I knew better than to believe him. I slumped against a tree trunk and threw my head back, basking in what little dim sunshine filtered through the hazy air and tree canopies.

I snuck a peak at Ashei and Shad, who were still standing. "He's not going to be right back, so get comfortable, folks."

With a sigh, Shad sat down and pulled out a research journal, scribbling in with a quill. He appeared to draw a diagram before flipping the page and looking over his notes from Din knows how long ago. Ashei pulled an arrow from her quiver and fired at a tree, once, twice, three times.

Comfortable, I thought with a snort.

We went on like that for about an hour before Link walked back, the heavy blue sheath of the Master Sword gleaming on his back. "How's old beauty doing?" I asked, standing and stretching before nudging Shad awake with my foot. Ashei seemed to be buzzing in place, vibrating with excitement.

"Good," Link replied. He smiled and looked up at the sky, though it was worthless to do so to check time. "Are we ready?"

"Always and forever."

ABABABABABAB

The early morning sunlight blazed hot in the desert Mirror Chamber as we warped in. I felt it burning my skin before I even registered my feet on the ground, and I suddenly pitied Shad and Ashei in their warm hunting outfits-which, while they were stylish and versatile, were probably baking them alive.

I wasted no time, walking to the mirror and summoning the pieces from my Shadow Storage. They flew into place, magnets to a pole.

"Fire it up, Link," I told him, brushing the frame of the mirror with a faint smile.

"This won't hurt, yeah?" Ashei looked at me for confirmation.

I shook my head. "No. It feels a lot like warping-but horizontally, not vertically. You'll do fine, kiddos."

I heard the suction, the high pitched soundwave that went with the mirror, and I saw the beam project onto the mirror, making it glow brightly. The translucent, cyan-patterned steps reflected out onto the floor and I stepped onto them, feeling the gentle breeze of the portal summon me. Relief flooded through me, followed by a fresh wave of uncertainty for my people and what was on the other side of that mirror. "Come on, guys!" I yelled. Link, Ashei, and Shad scrambled behind me.

"O Twilight Princess..."

I froze and Link hissed, we both turned to see the Sages on their pedestals. They stared in horror and anger at us-the horror mostly directed at Link, the anger saved for me. Ashei and Shad both gasped, and I held up a finger to them, keeping them quiet.

"Do not assume..." They began in their usual chorus.

Link snapped before I could even hear what they were saying. "I have nothing to say to you all, nor do I want to hear what you have to say. This was no mistake." His voice sharply echoed throughout the chamber.

"Mistake..." They sighed.

"We're not making a mistake," I yelled. Anger pressed into my tone-what did I care if I had an audience? The Sages were a holy link to the Goddesses. Good. I wanted them to hear what I had to say. "I tried to talk them all out of this suicide mission, but they wouldn't listen. I'm starting to realize that it might have been the Goddesses who made the mistake. . .it seems that they made the Hero too good hearted. He won't stand idle while I die. Nor will his friends." I left Zelda out of my tirade, figuring it would do no good to bring up the one flaw and missing piece in my logic.

Link turned to me, eyes fierce. He cast one look back at the Sages before taking my hand. "You heard her. Perhaps it was their mistake, their doing." He smiled with a hint of bitterness before doing a two finger salute. "Ashei, Shad. Follow us through."

I took the steps three at a time and let the Mirror of Twilight consume me. Last time I had gone through it, I had been running for my life. This time, I was fighting. Saving. And I was not alone.


	19. Chapter 19

It was a surreal feeling to be on the other side of the mirror, to feel the cool and sweet air of the Twilight Realm pressing down on my skin. The pale, bitter colors of the sky washed down on me and I squeezed Link's hand, suddenly terrified.

Ashei and Shad tumbled through with all the grace of an elephant herd, skidding down the steps and onto the hard ground. They both scrambled to their feet, apprehensive, observing the hard-edged black and purple buildings, the various shades of neon and cyan, the floating pieces of land. My home.

There was no time to introduce them or give them a tour. I stepped in front of them and raised my arms. "Stay behind me, guys. I'm not sure how well they're going to take to their missing princess returning with three Light Dwellers."

People rushed out of the main buildings, their pale skin flushed, eyes wide. People of all different shapes and sizes, some resembling myself, others completely different.

The air was abuzz.

"Princess Midna!"

"Her Highness! Her highness is back!"

"Who is with her?"

"Your Majesty, are you harmed?"

I commanded the crowd in an alto, spreading my arms out and raising my voice. "Get me Vicki. Yes, I'm alright and unharmed, and yes, these are my friends from the realm of Light. Further than that, I need to talk to Vicki." I had left her in charge on a whim and sort of felt bad, but I hadn't had a lot of choice in the moment.

"Let me through," I heard someone order from the other side of the crowd. The people parted down the middle and Vicki walked down the aisle. She looked well. Her hair, black as midnight in the Light realm, sashayed all the way down to her thighs, though she had it pulled back from her sharp face. She stood tall-nearly as tall as I was-yet was exotically thin. She was dressed in a cyan, tight fitting archer's suit, wearing a royal emblem on her chest. Her red eyes were wide with excitement. "Midna," She breathed.

"Vicki!" I gasped. "I'm so glad you're not harmed. Seems I had good judgment to leave you in charge."

"It hasn't been too smooth of a ride. But please, excuse my manners. Who are your Light Dwelling friends?" She looked at Link, Ashei, and Shad with raised eyebrows. Shad looked like he was about to have a stroke, while Ashei seemed to be completely at home with the strangers in my realm. In fact, she was glancing at Ashei's quiver with envy that told me that they would be instant friends. Good, no worries about foreign relations in that department.

"This is Ashei, Shad, and Link. Ashei is a warrior, you'll love her. Shad is a scholar who likes to read stuff. Link...is a hero. From the Light Realm."

The way I said it made her suspicious. Suddenly, she looked at Link in the eyes and gasped a little, no doubt seeing the eyes of the Beast in our legends. I nodded discreetly and then eyed the crowd.

"Disperse, please, we will have a conference later," Vicki called out to the crowd.

"You heard her, people," I rebounded.

A few moans and laughs came from the masses, but they flowed back into buildings. A handful of them went back to their vending carts in the main island squares, but they stayed to themselves and did not try to eavesdrop. They were such loyal people, it made me suddenly have a pang of guilt. I was about to rip them away from everything that they had ever known.

"Ms. Vicki, can we go inside to a private conference room?" Ashei seemed to have read my mind perfectly. "That's alright, yeah?"

Vicki nodded. Obviously, she had tons of questions that she knew who be better answered behind closed doors. "Of course. Right this way."

ABABABABABAB

I took a sip of the burning hot, thick liquid called Orna while I reclined in the comfortable lounge chairs in the rather bland, darkly color conference room towards the back of the main palace building. We were underneath the throne room by a few levels, down in the deep part of the floating island.

"This is...interesting." Shad made a face at the cup. I'm sure that he had been expecting tea.

Link was downing it like whiskey shots, while Ashei seemed to enjoy the more adventurous flavor of it. It was a drink made of things that could not be found in the Light Realm, which made it all the more special.

"So first things first-where is Dark? What happened with him? I only got small pieces of the story from the guards and witnesses." Vicki frowned, seeming unsettled.

I settled back in my chair a little bit. "Well, you'd be blind to not see the physical similarities between Link and Dark, so I suppose I will start there. Not fair of Dark to ruin Link's reputation, I think. So, anyway. Link is the all talked about Hero who is blessed with the Triforce of Courage. The Triforce is kind of like Hyrule's version of the Fused Shadows, but each of them has a significant power. Courage, Wisdom, and Power."

"If your companion, Link, has the Triforce of Courage, who has the other two?"

"Princess Zelda of Hyrule has the Triforce of Wisdom."

"And what of Power?"

This was where things got tricky, complicated. It was where I would have to tread very carefully, to not lead Link to any questions that could relate to Tetra. I would also have to divulge what had happened to me when I had tried to mold together Shadow and Light inside of myself. Still, I spoke. "By some terrible loophole, when the Dark Lord Ganon-who controlled Zant as a puppet—died, Dark was granted the Triforce of Power. This happened because he was the next most powerful person in the Light Realm at the time. However, Dark met his demise at my hands just the other day."

Vicki's eyes were wide. "What happened to his Triforce of Power? Who was it granted to? What else is going on, Midna?"

I looked to Link for reassurance. I was about to shatter the world of all of my people, and Link's eyes started to reflect that realization how exactly how much I was going to lose. Of what we were all going to lose. But he nodded at me to go on, so I did. There was no humor in my voice. This was serious, and my lack of sarcasm made the room silent. Ashei and Shad watched with tormented eyes-eyes that knew that they were privileged. "Usually, it would go to the next most powerful person."

"Usually?" Suspicion in her voice.

"But not now. At least, Princess Zelda does not think that it will be...replaced as of right now."

"Why is that?"

I spat the words that I could no longer hold in my body. My voice shook with fear-pure, undiluted fear that caused my hands to shake. Still, my anger rang out. "Because the Goddesses have more important business to take care of. Vicki, I'm sure you remember the...physical illness...that befell me when I was with Dark. The strange discoloration on half of my body. That was a mere projection of my soul trying to decide between full Shadow and full Light. The Goddesses offered me what I can only describe as a plea bargain. They would give me full Light magic in exchange for me leaving my Twili self. Of course, I did not know this at the time. I tried to balance the two out. When I escaped back to the realm of Light, both of my magics were so diluted that I was my normal self again. Little did I know that I was interfering with the destiny that the Goddesses-the very same ones who ordered our ancestors sent to the Twilight Realm-had so delicately laid out. I have been marked for execution and our realm has been marked for destruction. I have a few weeks left before the Goddesses will appear in their earthly forms to...take care of me. But first, they will erase our realm. Zelda suspects that they believe that Shadow and Light have gone out of balance, and that the Twilight Realm must be wiped out."

Every kind of horrified, heartbroken emotion crossed her face as I spoke, as the words sunk in. Tears pooled in her eyes and her voice hitched. "I...I don't understand-"

"But you do," I shook my head. "You understand. You know what this means."

"What am I to do? Now that you are back, you are back in power-we are all going to die, to meet an end that nobody can fight!" Vicki's voice ebbed into the despair of choked sobs. Link looked as though he had just watched an innocent person take an arrow.

I reached across the table and patted her on the back awkwardly. There wasn't much I could say about that. "But, Vicki...you see...there is a reason I am telling you this. These friends of mine from the Light Realm are sort of...idiotic in a really endearing way." My mouth turned up in a bit of a smile. "They think that if we disrupt their plan a little bit, the Goddesses could see the compassion or whatever that we and our Light counterparts share. So they have this really crazy idea."

"But we think you'd be up to it," Shad chimed in.

I let Link speak. "We are going to try and evacuate your realm. It might not be the best idea around, but it's the only thing we've got. I really do believe that if we can how the Goddesses the amount of teamwork, cooperation, and overall effort that the Twili and Light Dwellers can put in together, they will reconsider their decision."

Vicki looked like she was a degree away from hysteria, so she jumped onto the lifeline that he offered. "Midna is right. This sounds crazy, but I am...willing to help try. What can I do?"

It was my turn to speak again, to form the words that would transform into hope. "We need to get a press release out stating what has happened. Make sure everyone in this land has a copy. I'll make a speech this evening. Meanwhile, I will see if some of the outlying tribes are willing to listen. The Dark Lands...well, you know them. They're not going to listen to my reason, though I'm not opposed to trying."

"Are the people in the Dark Lands hostile towards the civilized Twili?" Shad blurted. He had started furiously scribbling in his notebook again and I rolled my eyes heavenward.

"Yes, Shad. They'd like to roast me on a spit."

He wrote that down and I stifled a giggle before turning back to Vicki. "Can you handle the press release? Nevermind, I know you can. So that's an order." My mouth turned up in a smirk. "I can be ready to give a speech in front of the palace in about three hours."

"That's fine. I'll get right onto the press release, then," Vicki said. She stood up, eyes rimmed with cloudiness from her earlier crying bout. "I'll be in the press room."

ABABABABABAB

We made our way through the castle until we reached my room. My stomach had knotted itself into tight loops on the walk through the halls, memories of being chased and fighting flashing in front of my eyes. I had no desire to relive my experiences with Dark, and I knew that the room would reek of deja vu.

Nevertheless, I opened the door and let everyone in. I sat cross-legged on the bed while Ashei, Shad, and Link all walked around uneasily, looking rather uncomfortable. The air was thick as butter and I tried to shake all the similarities in appearance between Dark and Link out of my head by rolling my eyes and flipping my hair. "Well? Are you disappointed? No monsters or outstandingly freaky people?" I laughed a little.

Link laughed, too, sitting down on the bed next to me. Ashei sat in my window seat, too, obviously taking my sardonic question as a way of saying no, nothing in here is going to open up and eat you, but Shad remained awkwardly standing.

"It's very fascinating here," He mused to himself.

"Like lab rats," I smirked. Link ruffled my hair in response and some of the iciness of the memories in this room faded away. "But excuse my less-than-Zelda-like hospitality. I'm sure you guys are hungry."

"Yeah," Ashei said. Shad nodded, but Link shook his head.

Alone time with Link in my bedroom sounded appealing, so I took the opportunity to kick Ashei and Shad out. "Down the hallway and up the stairs is the palace kitchen. The chef will have heard who you guys are-go sample the fascinating culinary arts of my realm."

They took the hint and left, so I smiled and flopped back onto my bed. "Jeez. This is so weird...having you guys here. In my palace."

Link snorted. _"Your_palace. So official, Princess."

I smiled wryly and gave him a sly look. "What? Jealous that Hyrule isn't this cool?" A bit of a frown captured my smile as I thought of the fate that could very quickly befall my realm. Even assuming that my people would be in the Light Realm, what was to stop them from destroying my home...?

He caught the worried look and sighed for the billionth time. "Midna, how many times do I have to tell you that this is all going to work out?"

"That's what you think."

"I'll die trying to stop this."

"That's the problem exactly," I grumbled.

He glared, but his eyes were still somewhat playful. "I'll follow you to hell."

A laugh. "Well, good, cause that's what is going to happen."

Link laughed, too. "You're my favorite pessimist, Mid."

I sat up straight and tried to look like I was scowling at him. "_Princess_ Midna."

He grinned at me. "I like the sound of that, you know. Even better than I like the sound of _Princess_ Zelda." Link frowned at me. "I don't like how it's going with her, speaking of. She could be a bigger help."

I shrugged at him. "Blondie is gonna do what she wants and what her people need."

"This is why I'm not good at the whole _ruler_ thing. Maybe I'm better left off with the whole _fighting_ thing. Saving the world and all that. It makes so much more sense. It's so much easier, in all honesty."

I nodded, a little humbled by his subtle compliment. "You're selling yourself short, wolf boy. Speaking of wolf-boy, I'm including that in my speech. Are you sure Shad and Ashei aren't going to freak?"

"They won't," Link confirmed. "Though I'm not sure they'll believe me. Shall we have me transform into a wolf?"

Though he meant for that to be a joke, I mulled it over. It might put _my_ people at ease. "Actually...that's a good idea. You have the Master Sword and I have the dark-magic stone, so why not? Theatrics are my thing. Especially considering this entire speech will be improv..."

Link chuckled, eyes widening. "We're really going to have me transform into a wolf in front of _all_of your people?"

"Stage fright, sweetie?"

He rolled his eyes. "Not likely."

ABABABABABAB

It was an eventful evening in the Twilight Realm. The colors in the sky became a little softer, a few more shades chromatic, to mark the afternoon's downfall. In front of the palace, and improvised stage had been set up shortly after the steps, and the crowd of people in the main square was getting larger by the second. Voices carried into the throne room, where guards were reporting that the press release had been dispersed to all citizens.

Ashei, Shad, Vicki, and a few guards would be on stage with us, and I wasn't the least bit nervous about the public affair. My people were loyal, and with showing them who Link was, I'm sure that they would believe every word I said. My concern was that I would break their hearts and shatter their dreams.

Still, this was our only option to try.

"Is it time to go out?" Ashei asked, impatient as usual. I laughed.

"Yeah, I think so. You guys-" I gestured to Vicki, Ashei, Shad, and our small group of guards, who saluted at my attention. "-go ahead and go out. Get the crowd's attention and tell em' to shuddup. Link and I will be right out."

They obeyed and walked down the corridors until they were out of sight. I heard the crowd hush as they walked onto the stage outside..

I turned to Link and smiled. "Ready?"

"Sure."

"No, Link, be serious. Can you do this? Or are you going to flip out on me?"

Link shot me a look that was somewhat of a cross between a glare and an eyeroll. "Flip out? Please, Princess."

I grinned. "There's my hero."

I started walking down the hallway, into the front room, and Link followed me closely. We got to the archway to the outside, and I paused to take a deep breath. "Let's do this," I muttered before taking two giant steps outside.

The platform was made of starchy wood, a lot alike to oak wood in the Light Realm. There were a few seats, all but one filled by Ashei, Shad, Vicki, and the guards, and Link took the final one that was closest to the podium. The crowd was silent for a second, but applause shattered the air as soon as I stepped up to the podium.

I let it die down before speaking. "Hey, guys."

A chuckle from the crowd.

"I think I'd better explain myself. It's kind of a long story and I'm here to ask one of the biggest favors, one of the biggest pardons that you will ever hear. But I trust you all. I love you all. You are my people, my soul, and you deserve to know the whole truth. I suppose I should start with telling you what you already know from the press release. Zant, the usurper king, is in fact dead—that was not a lie. Dark, who was nothing more than a liar and a dictator in the shadows, is also dead. The _real _hero of this realm, as well as the Light Realm, is sitting on this stage with me." I turned my head to Link and gestured him to stand up, which he did. "Link would say hello to you all, but I think he's got stage fright. Either way, this young man is no ordinary young man, no ordinary swordsman. He is blessed by the legends of both the Light Realm and our own Realm. In his realm, he is the Hero of the Goddesses from their legends. In our realm's folklore, he is the blue eyed Beast. You might have a hard time believing that—I certainly did, he was such a wimp when I first met him—which is why what I'm about to show you is shocking." I summoned the orange and black stone from my Shadow Storage and let it drop into the palm of my hand. I felt the magic swirl to my command, felt it fly to Link and consume him.

He dropped to all fours, eyes opened as a dark gray wolf, and a gasp flew up from the crowd and the stage. I looked at Ashei and Shad, who were clearly freaked out, and I looked to the crowd before a small laugh escaped me. "So you see now, he is no ordinary Light dweller." I tapped the stone again and the magic flew back, the flow and energy of the Master Sword breaking free and transforming him back to his usual state.

Link shook his head and yelled out, "Stage fright, yes."

I looked back at my people. They were wide eyed, but they believed. "Link is a little special, as you can understand. Obviously, none of you are blind to his physical similarities to Dark, so I'll just put you at ease now—Dark was an opposite, a doppelganger of Link. So don't be afraid of Link. I would say that you should be afraid of Dark, but he is gone."

The silence was not intimidating, so I continued. "It would seem that everything should be good for the citizens of both realms, but apparently, that's not the case. As Vicki discussed in the press release that you've all read, the Light Dwellers have an equivalent of the sacred magic of our Fused Shadows. Their version is called the Triforce, to which there are three pieces of three different powers, usually entrusted to three different people. Princess Zelda of the Light Realm holds the Triforce of Wisdom, Link holds the Triforce of Courage. And...well, by some divine joke, Dark held the Triforce of Power. Yet...we don't really know what has happened to that Triforce after I killed Dark. Usually, it would go to the next most powerful person. But, under this circumstance...we..."

I took a very deep breath and gazed out at the crowd. Sadness locked its claws around my throat, and I was hardly able to continue speaking as the bearer of bad news. "See, folks, I haven't been terribly open about my experiences when Dark was here under false rule, but I was close to death and the Goddesses of Light offered me a little taste of Light Magic. Little did I know, I was making a huge mistake by trying to balance Light and Shadow, to master them both. The power between both Light and Shadow, together, was...well, great. And it helped me. But, as I soon found out, I was making the wrong choice to try and balance. The Goddesses had, according to Princess Zelda, expected and desired me to choose Light and desert Shadow altogether. By trying to balance them, I committed a transgression so large that I have been condemned to die at divine hands. In addition to that less-than-cheery news, Princess Zelda informed me of another vision of wisdom from the future—that the Goddesses were to wipe out our realm entirely."

A shocked gasp came up from the crowd and angry voices swelled. My vision clouded a bit, from the tears, and I had to use an unusual amount of effort to command my people. "Please," I called, voice shaking. "Please be silent. Let me continue. Link, Ashei, and Shad—Ashei and Shad being adventures and operatives of Hyrule—believe that there is still cause for hope. They believe that we need to prove our case in a sort of trial, to prove that Light and Shadow do no harm and can peacefully coexist. They have devised a bit of a crazy plan. It will involve evacuating all of us into the Light Realm, into designated places that Shad believes we can be temporarily comfortable in. It is, trust me, possible to exist in the Light Realm. . .as Shadows, yes. It's not comfy or cushy to be a shadow. But you breath, you can still use most of your magic in very limited ways. . .and it would be temporary. We expect the Goddesses to appear in their more humanly forms in just a few short weeks."

The crowd burst into chaos yet again—voices were confused, angry, upset—and I silenced them again. "I know that this is...insane. And frustrating—hell, not just frustrating, infuriating. Yet, we do not have much a choice. It will be...interesting. As your ruler, I ask you all to take my offer into your hearts. Understand that the Goddesses...well, you cannot fight the Goddesses. It would be laughably futile. But we can tweak destiny, conceivably, with the help and support of our counterparts. I have spoken with various leaders in Hyrule, including Princess Zelda, and they approve of this idea, though they do not know exactly what is going on. The people of Hyrule are of good hearts and compassionate minds—if a little slow in some aspects—and would try to fight. We do not need a fight. We need a case. And that's what this is about."

There was silence. I took a hitched breath of air and looked out at my people. My wonderful, intelligent people who had been betrayed by Light so many times, and I was asking them to go live with what could be viewed as our ultimate betrayer. "So," I gulped. "I'd like to ask this mob a show of hands to who is willing to try this."

A few hands raised and I hissed. _Please, please raise your hands,_ I begged mentally, _I can't stand to let you guys stay here and die. _

More hands. A murmur in the heart of the crowd, growing into a river of shouts, raising hands, until it looked like a sea of arms raised skyward.

I could not see a single person not raising their hand, and I exhaled.

"Thank you," I called. "From the bottom of my heart, I am sorry. I'm not fit to have the support of your souls for my screw-up. But, still, you follow me, and I am grateful. Spread the word. Pack belongings into your Shadow Storage. I will have our public affairs committee draft a plan to evacuate in groups. I will lead you all through this."

And with that, the applause of a people so forgiving that it was heartbreaking started, and I turned and walked back into the palace.


	20. Chapter 20

I was sitting in a room full of maps and markers, eyes narrowed and in full concentration mode when Link walked in without knocking. Jumping a bit, I looked up at him and laughed a bit at his expression—trying too hard to look serious.

"Well, congrats, Hero. You're a celebrity."

Link grunted and rolled his eyes, taking a seat next to me. He was wearing at least five Twili charms that people had adorned him with when he went out into the square earlier in the evening, shortly after the speech, to find some more local food from the vendors.

The vendors here were different than in Hyrule—here, they were taken as more of a local charm, and not to mention doing business illegally. Still, they were local favorites and fixtures, mostly poor farmers from some of the outlying areas of the realm. The soil here was made of different things than that of the soil in Hyrule—here, it thrived on the darkness, while Light plants depended on the sunlight—and produced very different fruits with much stronger, most passionate flavors.

"I'm a little nervous about all of the attention, honestly," Link chuckled. "But it's nice to not have to be 'the legendary one', you know. Besides the people calling me Beast, it's okay."

I shook my head. "Don't be sure of that, you know. Vicki and I were discussing that. This kind of apocalypse is not different from the one discussed in our legends, our folklore—and would you care to guess who the Hero of that story is?"

Link exhaled and gave me an exasperated look. "If I read that legend and it sounds like this, I'm going to be seriously...mad. Can't I ever have a vacation?"

Laughing, I pointed at the map I was sketching on. "Hero, you get a vacation when I get one. Which is never. Suck it up and help me with this map. I'm figuring out how to evacuate this place. I figure that I can take groups of thirty back-and-forth with Shad, while you and Ashei stay here and prep the next group. Considering that there are nearly three thousand people in the friendly areas of the realm, and a good two hundred in the hostile outlying areas, this is going to be very hard to do. I'm aiming to be done in three days, though."

"How long will each trip take?"

"Not long. I'm not taking them on scenic tours, you know, I'll be warping them. Maybe twenty minutes roundtrip."

He nodded. "Explain the map to me. I don't understand the geography of your realm. There are a few major areas—your main area, of course. The Plains? Which nobody lives on, it's just recreation—kind of like Lake Hylia. Okay. And the Dark Lands. Which is hostile, correct?"

"Mhm." I gestured to some areas on the map. "The island villages where people live and farm are centered around this main island, with the Palace. We depend heavily on magic here, because every has to warp to get from island to island. Though, in the Dark Lands, they don't teach their citizens magic as a general rule, which is okay, because their land is one big, ugly block of rock. No need to warp. There are about…oh, two hundred people out there. This whole area we're in—where everybody who isn't hostile lives—is simply called Main Twilight. Maintwi, as some nickname it."

"That makes enough sense. So how many of the village-islands are there?" 

I circled an area on the map. "Three. One of the islands is smaller and only has about five hundred citizens—it's mostly wildlife. The largest island is a merchant's village that houses our largest market—very cosmopolitan. Kind of reminds me of Castle Town. Anyway, that has one thousand, five hundred people or so own it. The third island is kind of industrial—blacksmiths and the like, lots of tool shops. We have a lot of trouble there, but not from politics—just idiots getting drunk. Seven hundred fifty people there, give or take. The remaining two hundred and fifty live in the palace...servants or affairs workers who work in the Palace."

Link didn't seem confused by this, not in the least. He was following along and nodding. "That makes enough sense. Where will we start? Which island first? When?"

"I'll think we'll start with Refuge—the smallest island, tomorrow morning at first light." That was how everything was going nowadays—staying up late into the night and getting up before dawn. Cloak and dagger, really. I just wanted to be back in the Light Realm...to prepare for everything. I did not want to be here, a place that would soon not exist. I cleared my throat. "Besides, you, Ashei, and Shad will enjoy the scenery there."

He smiled. "I'm already enjoying it here. You know, we'll come back here one day, once we show the Goddesses that everything is okay down here."

I shook my head, dismissing his optimism. "Well, I think I'm going to head to bed soon. Ashei's probably in the room." Ashei and I were sharing a room while Link and Shad were in the guest quarters. "Was there anything else?"

"Not really. I'll see you in the morning—oh, wait. Shad wasn't planning on sleeping tonight and had a question for you."

"Alright, goodnight, then. Send Shad in."

Shad walked in shortly after, blinking rapidly and looking exceptionally tired.

"Hey, Shad. You look wiped."

He shook his head. "I think I am okay for now. I was wondering where I could find your palace's library and if I will need any sort of permission to get in."

Amused, I snorted. "The library is to the right of the throne room, all the way down the back hall. It's not that impressive, but it'll have some history and folklore. No permission needed. If anybody does bother you, which is unlikely because everybody except the night guards is in bed, tell them Mid sent you."

This easy approach seemed to put him at rest, and he nodded. "Is there anything you'd like me to look up?"

I hadn't planned to ask this of him, but his question caught me off guard, while my thoughts were running back of the day's mentions of folklore. A memory from a book in the Light Realm caught my mind, along with the script from one of our legends, and I asked him anyway. "Depends. Can you keep your mouth shut? I mean, don't even tell Ashei and definitely not Link."

"Of course. What is it?"

"Look for a book about something called the TriShadow. If you find it, bring it back to me." 


	21. Chapter 21

"Wow."

Link was the first to speak after I had warped our small group to the tiny island of Refuge, Ashei and Shad still wide eyed from the rather contrasting scenery. Off in the distance of the sky, you could see the dull outline of the Twili palace, the main island.

Refuge was rocky, as were all of the islands, but it was dotted with tall vegetation. Not just trees, but plants that were mutant tall. Our equivalent of mushrooms stood high as the palace, sending shade down and plunging part of the island into darkness. Water flowed with no particular command to gravity, going up and down and in swirls in the air before dropping off the edge of the island. At the base of some of the fatter, sky scraping plants, there were doors and archways. People on Refuge were all for improvising. Impressive gardens stretched all about, growing up the sides of other plants with fruits of all kinds of colors blooming.

"It's our most ecologically diverse island," I informed him with my best tour-guide smile.

"How...interesting," Shad muttered.

I grinned again, understanding their shock. This was quite different from anything that was in the Light realm, and probably a lot to take in. Part of me hoped that this insane plan could at least salvage my realm. . .

And last night, I had gone to sleep assuming that Shad had found nothing. But when I woke up in the morning, he had left a book outside of my door. _ The History of Light & Shadow: TriShadow Theories. _A bit of another crazy idea had launched itself in my mind, planting seeds of hope that perhaps all was not lost. But I would have to set it aside for now, to continue with the task at hand, and let my heart entangle itself in the messy web of hope later.

"Alright, enough gawking. Let's go, people." I motioned for them to follow me and walked ahead on a sandy path that led to a wide, short mushroom. It was the mayor's office, the commanding place, and I knew that I would find the quirky, somewhat wild leader of this tiny place in his command post.

We reached the archway, carved intricately into this petrified plant, and stepped inside.

The open-plan concept was a little dizzying, dozens of desks and clutter circling around one large plank of wood with a makeshift chair behind it. The colors inside were like the sky outside—dark and infused with smoldering shades. There were not many people in the large room, which did not surprise me. Even the government workers on this island usually were out hunting or gathering. The few that were working were dealing with native issues: the people on this island were generally more like me in appearance than the mainlanders. Tall, thin, darker and less luminous blue skin, shades of brilliant red hair. The natives spoke a different dialect and had a high rate of assaults. _Wild,_ I thought with a snort, focusing on the man in the center of the biggest desk.

"Abram!" I cried, smiling and laughing as he looked up sharply, clearly startled.

"Midna," He responded. "I was there at your speech yesterday and have been expecting you. Very interesting circumstances that you have landed us in, yes?"

Abram was a _very interesting_ man for a number of reasons. One of which was his appearance—the closest to a Light Dweller I had ever seen, with skin so dark blue that it looked more black or brown with its rich tone, eyes the color of gold with little flecks of black, a harsh and angular face with height and build that did not come without effort. The other reasons were all related to his history, a fascinating person for only being 20 years old. Stories of getting in fights with wild beasts on the island peppered his memory.

Knowing that he meant no harm, I snorted. "Exactly. Have you met the suicide—I mean _rescue_—party? Link, obviously. Shad, he's smart. Ashei, you'll like. She likes killing things."

Ashei laughed. "And exploring. This is a great place, yeah?"

"Yes," He responded, giving me a bit of a critical look. "Let us hope that your plan works and that this is all a, what was it said…a _misunderstanding._ That way, it will be around to explore." With a shake of his head, he continued speaking. "So what can I do to assist you, Midna?"

"_Princess_ Midna," I heard Link grumble. He clearly did not like Abram. Too bad.

Ignoring Link's jab, I smiled. "We're evacuating islands starting today. Refuge is first. I just need your permission and your help. I assume that people have packed things into Shadow Storage per my speech yesterday. Since you've got a lot on your hands with this island, I figure it's best for us to start with the main part of the island, the townsfolk—you know, while you, Link, and Ashei start rounding up the people out on the outskirts, Shad and I will move the first group to the Light Realm."

"That sounds simple enough for this situation," Abram approved. He gestured to the large stack of papers all around him and laughed. "I suppose I will load the more important things into my Shadow storage. I give you full permission to the island, not that you did not already have it. Let us go to the town center, then."

ABABABABABAB

The town was easy enough to evacuate. There were around three hundred people that lived in the main part of the island, while the remaining two hundred lived off in the outskirts. Link, Ashei, and Abram would work together to round them up while Shad and I took groups of thirty into the Light Realm.

The people on Refuge were begrudgingly compliant, sorting themselves into neat circles of thirty. Link stood at my side while Abram double checked the groups with Ashei and Shad, who were drawing quite a load of curiosity from the crowd.

"I'm not fond of that guy," Link told me while I tried to ready myself for the larger warp spell. We would have two stops. The first was a short distance away, the Mirror of Twilight in front of my palace. Then, we would all go through the portal and I would try to warp everyone as a group to the Zora Domain. Rinse and repeat. I knew it would be draining.

Smirking, though, I turned to Link and messed up his hair. "I noticed. But be good. Abram's a nice guy."

"Do I have competition?"

I laughed. "There isn't any competition."

"None? Whatsoever?" Link looked at me and smirked, which made me feel a little woozy in front of a crowd of three hundred people. "I find that hard to believe."

Searching through some memories, I scowled. "There were a few guys long before I met you, dog boy. Long before. You might get to meet some of them in the coming days, but they're a bit on the riff-raff side of town…if you don't like Abram, these guys will be about as likable as our situation." I made a face, thinking of memories with creepshows.

He sighed. "Well, I guess this isn't the time to go into our courtship histories. Do we need to make an announcement to the crowd about what it will be like for them in the Light?"

"You read my mind." I turned to the crowd, taking a few steps forward, and took the rather direct method of shouting to get attention. "_Hey!_ Everybody! Can y'all be quiet for moment? We'd like to tell you about some of the unpleasant side effects of being in the Light realm as a Twili. . .all of which I am immune to due to a very generous dose of Light from Princess Zelda." An audible groan went up from the crowd. "Awww, don't do that. You'll all like her, she's a lot…okay, wait, you won't like her. You will, however, like Prince Ralis of the Zora Domain, where we'll be camping out. His people mainly live in the water and Shad suspects they're close to our genetic line, so they won't be a problem. Being a shadow in the Light Realm isn't easy, but hey, you can float through walls and it's sort of the best we've got right now. But you all know that. I'll also talk to Zelda about how she feels about maybe performing a bit of a Veil Spell on just a small portion of the realm, so we can have a bit of twilight, some of the comforts of home."

I took a quick look at Link, who rolled his eyes. I nudged him, to let him know that it would be okay to inject some humor into the situation. He took the cue. "I thought I got rid of the veils of Twilight in the Light realm. Y'all just keep coming back!"

A small laugh was drawn from the crowd and I shook my head. "You'll all get used to Link. He's the typical Light dweller. Arrogant, naïve, a little idiotic…but charming enough. And Link here has been my best friend. I'm trying my best to convey that, in case you can't tell. If there's anybody who can help us get out of the pit I've thrown us into, it's Link. You can all see that, I trust you all as my people to know that…to trust that. Trust his eyes, folks. You all know the legends."

There was a hush that fell in the air, and I knew that I had hit home. I had done a little bit of reading—I had snatched the book about the TriShadow that Shad had grabbed me, knowing that I would have time to read it later, and then of course flipped over the local folklore…the folklore that seemed to be living itself out.

The folklore that gave my people confidence in the words I spoke.

"Alrighty, then. We'll start this off easily. Shad and I will be taking you group by group, starting on the far left. I will warp us to the Mirror of Twilight in front of the palace, which we shall go through. It will spit us out in the Mirror Chamber in the area known as the Gerudo Desert in the Light Realm. From there, we're going to warp up to the Zora Domain. Anybody have any questions? No? Good. Folks, this is as easy as it's going to get, so everybody hang on."

I beckoned the first group and all thirty people marched into a circle surrounding me and Shad. I was grateful that they knew how hard it would be for to teleport this many people at once. Painful, even. So they made it easier.

"Be back soon!" I called over the crowd to Link, Abram, and Ashei.

A muffled "Don't keep me waiting" came back over the mass of people, and I smiled before putting all of my concentration on the warp spell.

The power came slowly, and I flexed the warp from the outside working in. I heard the _whir _in the air as it surrounded the circle, as it closed in on its prey, as the sky opened up a little and let the people dissolve. My breath hitched as I tried to keep it going, the limited magic range I had draining. I pushed against my will to keep it going as it came inside, a groan coming out of me-

It reached Shad and it started to engulf me. With one last shove of power, I kneeled to the ground and let the current dissolve me into a million different pieces.

ABABABABABAB

I came down in front of the mirror, in the center of the crowd, with a loud gasp for air. Sweat had beaded its way around my forehead, my temples throbbing with the beginning of pain, and my hands quivering from effort. Still, a quick headcount told me that the first warp had been successful.

Wobbling, I stood and pointed at the mirror. "I'll go first. Follow my lead. Pretty self explanatory."

The crowd was silent, the air thick. I swallowed the lump in my throat and my vision blurred with tears and the side effects of performing such a large spell. I fought off the pain and stepped up to the mirror, glowing with light as I neared, and I melted into its current.

As soon as I materialized on the other side, in the quiet barely dawn air of the Mirror Chamber, I backed up so not to get trampled, because I knew the group would rush through as soon as I disappeared. I was right to assume that, as a clump of my people materialized as Shadows in the Light. Shad came right behind the group.

I was quiet as they grinned, grimaced, cried, and laughed. People in wonder of the Mirror Chamber, in distaste of their forms as shadows…all of it. Every emotion on the spectrum. I had nothing to say, I let them experience the wonder of first seeing the Light Realm. I admit, though my circumstances had been different, I had taken a moment to gawk, as well. While I watched, I observed a few interesting things. One of which was that, even as Shadows, my people were still solid forms to each other. Their hands could not pass through one another, though they could pass through walls. Shadow was physical to shadow.

"Welcome to the Light Realm. This God-forsaken desert has no inhabitants and in about ten minutes, it's going to be like a boiling pot in this chamber. If you're impressed with this place, just wait till the Zora Domain."

"Princess, will you be alright to warp all of us? You seem to be under physical duress," someone in the crowd broke the wonderstruck tone to inquire.

I smiled and ignored the stabs of pain all over my body. This would stretch a rarely used muscle. "I'll be fine, thank you. Circle up, y'all."

They did so, and once we were in formation, I knew what to do. The spell came easily this time, though not without pain, and it engulfed our group. As I spiraled up to the sky, I caught sight of one last thing: the near-invisible outline of a Sage in the Mirror Chamber. He faded as soon as I saw him.

_Let it begin._

The thirty Shadows, one mortal, and one Princess—me—descended into the Zora Throne Room. With all the luck in the world, as usual, I landed smack into the water and resurfaced to see the group of Twili standing on the circular path around the room, even more awestruck than having landed in the Mirror Chamber.

Sparing me yet another introduction, young and wise Prince Ralis stepped off his throne and walked forward. He nodded at the Shadows, cloaked in blackness except for the glow of their eyes. "You must be the first group of Midna's people. I am flattered that your Princess has decided to house her people here in this trying diplomatic situation. I've arranged for some of my guards to offer a tour and address any questions you may have in a timely manner so that we may all be ready for the next shipments."

I could tell that this was a big moment for Ralis, and I couldn't help but smirking. "Nice job, Prince. I appreciate it." I gave him a two finger salute and he winked.

_How…typical of the Light Realm, _I thought. _A world is ending and one of the rulers is joking around with diplomacy. _

I snapped out of my thoughts, knowing the clock was ticking, and turned to the group of my people. I beckoned Shad forward and looked at them. "Well…considering Ralis has you guys squared away, I'll head back for the next group with Shad. You all…have…fun."

Somebody laughed, another person sighed, and I knew that this was just the beginning of a very tedious journey.


	22. Chapter 22

Over the next few days, the evacuation procedures went off without a hitch, though they were undoubtedly stressful and tedious. Prince Ralis was amazingly gracious and the Zoras were very creative on where to let my people stay. They, also, were willing to stay in the water and give my people free roam over the land parts of the Domain. When room started running short, they extended the offer to most all of Snowpeak, which was slightly uncomfortable for my people, but the Zoras again saved the day when they lent us a map of the large and vast caverns scattering the mountain. As the numbers of my people climbed to the thousands, I hastily made a mayor or former ruler assigned to each area that my people were staying. This eased the process and allowed people to formally complain.

Link, Ashei, and Shad quickly witnessed the various parts of my kingdom: the vast market places, the blacksmith shops, the wildlife and landscapes. It all went by in a blur and it disappointed me that we did not have a lot time to mess around with. Soon enough, all of the civilized parts of the realm were evacuated.

Ashei, who had taken quite a liking to Abram, and Shad both went back to the Light Realm while Link and I stayed one last night. We told them that we were doing one last sweep for items, but in honesty, there was still one more area we needed to check on.

I would worry about that in the morning, though. Thoughts of the book that I wanted to read—the one Shad had gotten me, the one that I prayed held some kind of solution—floated around my mind, as did the stress of my people hanging out in the Light Realm.

Link wasn't going to leave me alone, though.

"Knock, knock," He called at my door.

I froze behind my clothes screen, in the process of pulling my shirt off. I didn't really care if Link saw me shirtless, but I did care if he saw the long, red scars and florescent bruises that colored my body. They were from the exertion of magic, and it hurt to breathe while they pulsed. I had hid them well the last few days, but obviously, they were still present.

Yanking my shirt back on, I stepped out around the screen and smiled at him. "Evening." I flopped down on the cushioned window sill and gave him a look.

He gave me one in return. "It's…empty out there." Link gestured outside the window, where the evening tones had set into the twilight of the sky, deep mahoganies replacing streaks of hot pink. But he was not talking about the eternity of the sky. He was talking about the evacuation. "You did really well, Mid. I know how hard it must be."

"Not well enough," I muttered.

Link sat down next to me and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't play dumb. You know what I'm talking about."

"The Dark Lands?"

"Yes. Still…two hundred people or so over there. We don't have official numbers. They're the worst of our kind. The direct descendants of darkness. But some people are just born into the Dark Lands and it's not their fault. I feel like a monster—I _am_ a monster for deserting them. Even if I hate the leaders and they hate me. Even if they worshiped Dark."

"Would they hate me? If I came with you?" He pursed his lips.

I laughed, amused. "Oh, they would _definitely_ hate you. Especially if you were with me. That might be because you're the hero of not only Shadow, but Light—which they hate by nature—but because. . .well, this is awkward. But I had what you all call a _fling_ with one of their no brains, but lots of beauty rulers."

Link looked at me _very_ pointedly. "_Fling_? In the same breath as _descendants of darkness_?"

"Oh, please. It was a few years ago. I didn't know you existed, nor did I have any plans to travel to the _oh-so-exciting_-_Sunshine-world_, and I was a young and bored politician. Come to think of it, I was fifteen and it was shortly before I was elected. . .hm."

"Fifteen?"

"I had been on my own for five years. Chill out there, dog boy, and tell me that you and Ilia didn't have a good roll in the hay that very same year."

His eyes bulged. "For the love of Din—"

"I don't think she likes me, let alone _loves me_, Link."

He rolled his eyes. "Fifteen is frowned upon in the Light Realm. Unless it's an arranged marriage."

"Disgusting." But sensing that no good would come of talking about the pro's and con's of sexual experience, I cleared my throat. "Anyhoo. He was the second in command when I…uhm, met him. So, assuming my knowledge of their political system isn't terribly skewed, he'd be in full command now and—"

Link put a finger to my lips. "Sh. I don't like where your train of thought is going, Princess."

"What? You don't think that I could be convincing? Come to think of it, he did _really_ like me…"

He laughed. "Oh, I'm positive you can be convincing. But if he's as dark and sinister as you say, his evacuating his people—who hate you, and hate the Light realm—won't come without a price."

I pointed to the corner of my room, where a treasure chest sat. "I'm a fully loaded Princess." My tone was a little too innocent, but I, as usual, didn't care what Link had to say about another crazy idea in my head. He wanted to help my realm for better or worse. Well, the Dark Lands were the "worse" part of that agreement.

"You know that's not what I mean, Mid."

"I wouldn't be in any danger." That was probably a lie, but hey, it was worth a shot. "Besides, you can come with me. See the Dark Lands. Ugliest place ever. Granted, for this to work, I'll have to introduce you as a _friend_ who happens to be the Hero."

Knowing that I was serious, Link blew a strand of hair out of his face and sighed. "You're too stubborn."

I smiled. "I know. That's why you love me."

I hadn't meant for those words to come out of my mouth and brief horror flashed in my eyes, but Link just nodded and said, "yes." Before wrapping his arms around me.

When his arms came in contact with my sides, I hissed and idiotically pulled away. Link's eyes narrowed and he yanked my shirt up a little.

"Pervert."

"Goddesses, Midna!"

He looked at the swirls, the cuts, the scars, the bruises, that had contorted my pale blue skin into an array of paint splatters. Clearly horrified, he met my eyes and locked my gaze into his. "Is this from the magic?" He demanded.

I shrugged. "It's not bad if I don't walk. Or talk. Or breathe, for that matter."

"How can you say that this isn't bad? You need to have ice on this!"

"Actually, the magic reacts negatively to cool."

"Heat, then! And there's no way in hell that I'm going to let you get this hurt over a bunch of people who hate you! I'll tie you up and carry you to the mirror if I have to!"

Ignoring his demands, I winked and said, "I'll get the rope."

Link glared, but when I sighed, his face softened. "Midna, come on. Don't do this to yourself. You've gotten this far. Do you even think that going to the Dark Lands is going to help at this point? Would they even listen? Don't even think about doing this if the answer is no."

Well, I didn't think that it had a chance in hell of working, but I was not Zelda and I would not stand by idly and worry about pissing off the Goddesses. Clearly, they didn't like me already. But I smiled. "Shush up. They'll listen. As I said…I can be very convincing."

"Not a good example. You're not convincing me," He retorted.

I exhaled in a huff. "Then you're just being blind. These wounds are fine. Like the ache of new muscle. They'll be fine soon. Think of this as a _warning trip_ to the Dark Lands. If they don't listen and all hell is unleashed upon them by the Goddesses, that's their problem."

"I can't believe this," he grumbled. I ignored him.

ABABABABABAB

The next morning, I suited up in a red leather outfit that would serve a number of different purposes. The first was that it covered most all of me—from my ankles, covering my legs and torso, slightly dipping at the neck, and cutting off at my elbows—and was thus protective, yet also chic and sleek. I glanced at myself in the mirror and remembered that the Dark Lands usually used the colors red and black in their coat of arms. Deciding that a little diplomacy couldn't hurt, I slipped on black gloves before brushing my fingers through my hair, which had straightened itself out overnight.

I noticed Link in the corner of my reflection and I smiled at him. He was dressed, as usual, in his green Hero's tunic.

"I don't like this."

"You've said that before."

He walked to my wardrobe, nudged me out of the way, and milled through it before pulling out a long, dowdy blue cloak. "Can't you wear this?"

"Diplomacy is key, Link," I smirked and dramatically leaned down to slip on my flat shoes. "Besides, this suit actually has a personal connection to the time I met this guy."

Link huffed and held up a hand. "I don't want to know."

"That's what I thought. Now, the closest I can warp us to the Dark Lands is the edge of the Plains. After a certain point, it becomes a bit of a no-man's-land before you reach the Dark Lands." I remembered my adventures there with Tetra, who Link still did not know of my encounter with, and slightly cringed. "Once I warp us…we'll be…not exactly on foot."

"Not exactly?"

"Too many questions. Not enough doing. Let's go warp."

The warp spell was easy in comparison to the spells I had been performing as of late, and so painless that I hardly even flinched when the magic encircled us. The landing in the Plains was a bit rough for my taste, however, and I groaned a little as I stood. Far ahead, in the outline of the sky, I could see the shapes of the Dark Lands. "Well, it's up ahead."

He squinted out at it. "That seems a little far for walking."

"Be patient—we're not exactly walking, just like I said." I held up a finger and did a quick scan of the Plains around us. A rubbery black tube stuck out of a dark rock outcropping, so I grabbed it up. Pressed it my lips, whistled through it, and listened to the call echo.

And I knew that Link remembered the Twilight Birds when his realm was cloaked in Twilight, from riding them over the Zora Domain and Lake Hylia. But it didn't stop him from laughing at the irony of it all, saying, "this is full of surprises."

The Twilit Bird, large and regal, landed before us. "Come on, then." I climbed onto its back and Link hopped up alongside me. The bird let out a shriek and I grabbed its mane and its wings flapped, carrying us forward through the no man's land.

It was all too quick of a journey. I eased the bird down to the ground and we yanked ourselves off its back before it took to the skies once more.

Not even one hundred feet ahead, the tribe's huts and structures stretched out in a semi circle. The stench of dark magic was unmistakable.

Link, cautious as ever, took a step forward. I reached out and stopped him, jerking my head at the closet hut. "Don't. They'll come to greet us. Let me do the talking." I heard the horns start to blow, the warning symbol, the way that they sounded the alarm for a threat. In just a moment, tens of their military police would be upon us. He opened his mouth to protest but I cut him off. "Not a word."

It didn't even take a moment. Uniformed in black that matched the flickering shadows of their skin, ten militants marched towards us, armed to the T. All of them were sorcerers—their main source of magic—but the bows and regal blades they held did not look harmless to me.

I stepped forward. _They know who I am,_ I think. "Hey."

At the same instant I opened my mouth, an arrow came whizzing towards me. Child's play. I caught it between my fingers and tossed it over my shoulder. "Play nice. I'm here to talk to your leader."

One of the militants, with a long and lean form, hissed at me from beneath her face mask. "After you murdered our last one, usurper wench?"

I chose not to respond. "Who's in charge?"

"Ihiragim the Great has been chosen to lead our tribe," another gruffly cut in. I smirked. 

"Tell Ihira that little ol' Midna is here to see him."

They weighed me carefully, their red eyes brightly hostile. After a silence, I rolled my eyes and said, "Listen. I'm not brainless. I'm sure you'd all like to see me roasting on a spit. For the amount of respect I'm giving you, you should be teleporting me right into his Throne Room. Aren't I what you all consider a high profile target? To be dealt with by the ruler?"

"Fine. But the boy stays here. Under guard."

"Not happening." I raised my voice. "Tie us up. But both of us are going. Together."

They didn't like how it was going: they did not enjoy my demands or my authority. "Surely, you see the resemblance between this young man and your dead ruler," I step aside and gesture to Link, who looked like a turkey about to be shot and buttered.

A collective gasp went up in the air and I looked up to see that a crowd of citizens had formed. They all looked ready to join in on the slaughter. "Like I said…high profile target. Both of us. Don't you all have some protocol for high profile targets? Doesn't it say that they should both be dealt with by the ruler?"

I had painted them into a corner with their pride. With a huff, the militant in the center reached into his uniform and pulled out two sets of hand cuffs. They looked relatively normal—metal binding and gloss—but knowing the Dark Lands, they'd be infused with magic. Two guards cuffed Link and I, one stopping to whisper in my ear leeringly, _beautiful attire. _I ignored him and let one of the militants encircle us, snap his fingers, and teleport us up.

Their magic, sickening and heavy, dumped both of us on the floor to a central hall in their castle. Hadn't changed much since I had last been here…captured…with Tetra's help just a call away—

The throne room guards had already been informed of the situation. "He'll only see Midna right now," a curt man informed us. I grit my teeth, knowing my leverage was about to run out.

Seeing no other option, I made eye contact with Link, who eyes were really starting to communicate his distaste for this entire plan. I looked up at the guard. "You lay a finger on him and I don't care if I end up on a spit, I'll make you choke on your own blood."

He nodded once.

Two other guards came over and helped me to my feet, my hands secured behind my back, and put a sack over my head to block out my vision. _High profile target, _I mocked myself in my head.

We walked down what seemed like an endless stretch of corridor before I heard the squeak of panels opening. Someone prodded me from behind, effectively taking me to my knees, and the sack was removed.

Ihira sat above me on his throne, looking utterly amused with me. "It's been too long."

"I couldn't agree more." I smirked and quipped at him, "you never came to visit."

He raised an eyebrow and I rolled my eyes. "Uncuff me."

With the snap of his fingers, my cuffs were removed. As I thought, they were merely particles of dark magic bound together. I sat cross-legged on the floor and he laughed. "What brings you here?"

"Can't a girl come congratulate a former love on his exciting promotion?"

"Thank you. Age suits you. As do the colors of my tribe." He gestures to my outfit.

"Too bad they won't be around for much longer," I told him.

Ihira made a face that was a cross between a scowl and a condescending smirk, silently egging me on, willing me to explain. "Let me bring my friend in to help me explain. Seems I've gotten into a lot of trouble."

He shook his head. "The boy in the green tunic?"

"Yup. That's him."

Ihira had painted _me_ into a corner. He had me where he wanted me. "I think we should just keep it between the two of us—between two rulers. And old…friends."

_Politics make me wretch,_ I thought, forcing my mouth to turn up into a smirk in response. "Fine by me. In for a long story."

So I started off by explaining the quest I shared with Link from our side of the rift. The Dark Lands were vastly secluded from news and, when they had some, it became awfully twisted and unrecognizable with propaganda. I told him about Zant. About the Fused Shadows. About the Triforce, about the blue eyed wolf. I talked about Dark and accounted my abuses at his hand. I spared no details of the violence that had been displayed towards me. Finally, I told him about the impending doom that I had caused by surviving despite all of the odds.

By the time I was done, it was afternoon and Ihira had ordered some kind of sparkling wine and grapes, both of which I helped myself to. When the last of the words had left my lips, Ihira laughed. "My, my. You have been causing trouble, now haven't you? You haven't lost the fire inside of you."

My patience was running short, but I fluttered my eyelashes and smiled in response. "Wouldn't dream of it. May I introduce you to Link, now? The hero of our legends as well as theirs?"

He nodded and sent a guard to retrieve Link. Moments later, he was deposited on the floor next to me, cuffs removed, eyes narrowed. I elbowed him. _Be nice,_ I thought. "Link, meet Ihira."

"Ah. The boy in green. The blue eyed beast. It is a pleasure."

Link smiled warmly. "Thank you, Ihira." He turned to me. "I'm sort of amazed at the diversity in your realm, Midna."

The quiet chant to my authority was amusing, but I ignored it and took his message literally. Ihira was a little different in appearances—certainly not like that of the Dark Lands. More like me in human qualities of body shape, but the similarities stopped there. Neon red eyes. Snowy hair and almost purple-gray skin, pale lips and regal tattoos all over his arms. The last time I asked him about it—when I first met him—he told me that he was a descendant of a Demon Lord from ages ago. Apparently, the chosen hero had killed the sadistic Demon Lord in that age, but not before he had found some snake-y girl to carry on his lineage.

Fascinating history. I turned to Ihira and let him recount the story for Link, who listened carefully. The irony was lost on no one: our ancestors had all killed each other. Well, except for mine. "This is hilarious. Except for me. I'm a new soul. No previous bloodbaths on my hands," I smiled and tipped the rest of my wine back.

There was an uncomfortable silence. _Bad blood,_ I thought. "Well, no use in sugar coating it, Ihira. As much as I love hanging around with you and your sunshine-y personality, I did only come here to warn you about this fiasco, offer you an opportunity to get outta here."

He grinned. "Midna, darling, why don't you just fight the Goddesses? Why let your realm be turned to dust? Why hide?"

I pursed my lips and looked to Link, who just shook his head. "I don't want to fight the Goddesses. Really, this is a misunderstanding."

"Do you question their authority, young hero?"

"Not at all—"

"You do, or at the very least, you doubt their divine judgment." His voice was mocking on the word _divine._ "If you do not mind doing that, then there should be no problem turning that pretty little blade of yours on them."

I stepped in before the diplomacy shattered and before blood started flowing with a laugh. "Ihira, you're a sucker for a battle. Don't worry. Our plan is a win-win situation: we try the diplomatic _this is all just a big misunderstanding _first, and if that doesn't work, we go down in a blaze of glory. But at the very least, I want our people to have a chance of surviving this—even if I don't."

He raised an eyebrow. "Our people?"

I tensed. "We, the rulers of the Twilight Realm. Zelda has fully agreed to my terms of trying to help the Twili, even if I am executed."

Ihira scowled. "It seems like a waste."

"Of what?"

He laughed. "Effort."

I opened my mouth to speak, but Link, clearly tired of the political game, eyed Ihira in the face and frowned. "Midna did come all the way out here, to a land of people that really despise her, just to warn you. The least you can do is show some respect to her."

The room was deadly silent for a few seconds, only broken by Ihira's laugh. "Good old Midna really does care, doesn't she?" He looked at me. "You've gotten soft."

"Not at all. Just wiser." I let my voice drop a few octaves before standing. "Ihira, like Link said: I came here to tip you off, as a _friend_, to warn you all. It's your choice whether or not you take it." Link stood at my side and I sighed.

Ihira looked at the two of us curiously, until his amusement gave way to realization, then circling back to that half-smirk. "We'll take our chances, lovely Midna. I am quite certain that my people have no desire to camp out in the Light Realm. We are shadows. Let the Goddesses come."

I frowned. "I really don't want to end up finding you in the pits of hell."

"Will he be joining us?" He jerked his head towards Link, who scowled.

"Probably not. He's gotten the mark of the Goddesses, after all."

"Then finding you in the pits of hell will be quite a joy."

"Looking forward to the company," I responded with a smile. It was not genuine. I was not excited about the idea of burning in the underworld for all of eternity, let alone having Ihira for company. Ihira stood and called us guards to escort us back to the edge of their lands. On my way out, he caught my hand and embraced me. So cold. So uncaring. So very evil, I could smell the dark aura.

"Good luck, my Midna," he purred, kissing me on the cheek. I step away and nod.

"You too. Don't get killed."

We warped out to the border of the Plains with a few of Ihira's henchmen overseeing us. The townsfolk did not seem exceptionally excited about us leaving alive, but with no orders from their Lord to skewer us, there was nothing they could do except scowl.

The guards did not even bother with a goodbye as they warped back, and Link and I were left alone, left to leave my realm once and for all after the last mission had been attempted.


	23. Chapter 23

By the time I summoned a Twilit Bird, Link was gagging over an outcropping of rock. The colors in the sky were darkening, brilliant streaks of amber changing their hue to the colors of dying coals, pinks turning to dark violets. I rolled my eyes and hauled him onto the bird with me, flying until we were in warping distance of the main island.

"I'm speechless," he quipped, fake gagging again. I rolled my eyes and stayed silent, thoughts stirring around the fact that two hundred plus people were about to die because of my actions, my failure to convince Ihira to evacuate them. "He was a piece of work. Did you really have a fling with him?"

"I can't believe you'd ask that right now," I grumbled. "But yes. I did. It was four—nearly five—years ago. Long before I met you, dog boy."

Something dawned on him. "What did he mean about you getting soft?"

"I didn't used to have my sunny personality," I joked, thousands of memories surfacing. Blasts of magic filling the air. A civil war in the Dark Lands. Me being on political outreach missions. Ihira leading part of the Dark Land's military. Late nights on the battlefield. None of that was something I wanted to divulge. "Nothing you need to know. Everybody has their secrets."

He sighed, finally understanding that the whole matter was upsetting me. "You did a good job. You tried."

"I failed," I responded, easing the bird down from the sky and jumping off. I took Link's hand and yanked him off, summoning the warp portal. The magic stung my skin and the current was painful, but I let it engulf me without making a sound.

The ground in front of the palace was chilled from the changing air and I exhaled the frustration with a huff as we landed. The realm was eerily quiet. Deserted. All of them, being incredibly compliant citizens who did not seem to blame me for their home being taken from them. I didn't deserve them. Not a single one of them.

Link knew my train of thought as my eyes flickered back and forth between the palace doors and the mirror. "Midna. It's going to be okay."

Ihira's words echoed in my head. Bounced around. Dancing with pointed needle feet all around my brain. _Why don't you just fight the Goddesses? Why let your realm be turned to dust? Why hide?_

What an excellent question that the heart of evil had presented me with. Not that my soul could be in much more danger than it already was. But why? Was it because part of me hoped that perhaps, my people would be able to strike a deal with the Goddesses or Zelda, that they could be transformed into beings of Light? My eyes raked the square of the palace again. Where I had seen children grow into adults. Where the invasion of Twilight had started. Where my people put themselves back together.

And I knew that if the Goddesses thought I would show up to the fight unprepared in hopes that my people would be able to give up their lives here and have to change themselves, they were wrong. _Why hide?_ I knew that I would not hide. The book on the TriShadow felt heavier in my Shadow Storage.

"I know it is, Link." I smiled. It would not be okay. It would be bloody and awful. But I would not let this be taken from me without a grave price. "Well, not much else to do here. Shall we go?"

He eyed me and gave me a look that said _I know you're hiding something._ But he had no real words to put those thoughts into, so he just sighed. "Yes. Let's."


	24. Chapter 24

"Ralis, I'm going to say something morbid."

The young prince looked up at me, startled at my sudden appearance in his throne room. But he smiled at me, recognition and now, in these recent days, friendship that commonly flickered across his features. "Oh?"

"If I end up…gone…in a few weeks," I said, careful because he did not know the full extent of the situation. "I'm passing my people on to you." _If they're even allowed to live,_ I think as an add on, but I throw a wry smile in. "Everybody I've talked to is absolutely raving about what a great ruler you are. Seriously. If I don't end up…gone…by forces of nature, I'm almost sure that my own people are going to arrange for me to be _eliminated._" The fangy grin that I threw in seemed to help quell the seriousness of my statement, because Ralis laughed.

"I've just been showing off, Midna. You set a high bar."

I rolled my eyes and gave a quick two finger salute. "You know it. Anyway, I just stopped by to check on my people and their vacation spot. Figured I'd drop in and say yo to you."

He nodded and I turned to warp, to dissolve, but I snuck in one more phrase. In a world where my remaining minutes were being counted down, the words were valuable. "Oh, and Ralis? Thanks for not nosing around my business."

I let the magic swirl before he could respond.

My people had adjusted shockingly well, or, at the very least, were sucking it up and hiding any disdain. Shoved into the Zora Domain and spilling out over onto Snowpeak and the upper river, there were legions of Twilits that were camping out. The children had been quick to make friends with the young Zoras—and take advantage of, in play, their state of Shadow that allowed them to float through walls with ease—and the adults were in a somewhat comfortable 'ally' relationship. The Zoras were even supplying my people with fish and coral for food.

But Zelda and I…our relationship had been rocky, which did nothing for the diplomacy of the situation. She and Link weren't even talking—Link disgusted that she could stand and be idle, and she had her suspicions about what I was planning.

What exactly was I planning, though? I didn't even know the answer to that. Not fully, anyway.

It was just…the book…and the memories of Dark's fascination with the book…

_The future, Midna._

Yes. My future, or what little there was of it, certainly held great turmoil.

But it was my fear for what would happen to Link and my people that had kindled fire within me, setting me ablaze and furious with the situation. I did not care how much of my own blood would be spilled. I was already doomed to bleed.

It was that I wanted to show the Goddesses that, even if it were my last and dying act, that they could not hold Link—someone who, on their accord, had been created with the kindest, bravest, purest soul—or my people accountable. That they could not slaughter them to punish me.

For that, I knew I would need a weapon so intertwined with their fate that it would cause great damage to this world if destroyed. The horror of that concept beckoned me, let my mind spin down into a chasm of ideas. The divide between darkness and light. Twilight.

When I first opened the book Shad had found for me, I knew I was grasping at straws. Not straws. Spiderwebs with poisonous creatures biting me, corrupting me with every pull. But the words made sense to me, and even if they didn't, the drawings that came along with them did.

I never thought that I would thank Dark, but there is a first for everything.

It was late—with, according to Zelda's visions, only about a week or so before the Goddesses were to materialize—in the night, with Link fast asleep next to my door…afraid that I would leave one night and do something stupid, as I apparently had a tendency to do, that I lit a candle by my bedside loft at Telma's and flipped open the book.

Lucky for Link, I didn't need to run away for this. It was entirely different place that I was going to.

_Just a test run,_ I assured myself, trying to quell my excitement and hope. It probably wouldn't even work. Still, the book had a short little spell. . .just a few lines long, so tempting. I summoned the Fused Shadows from my Shadow Storage, let them hover in the air in front of me.

And I took a deep breath before starting the spell. _Great forces of Darkness and Light, gatekeepers of Heaven and Hell. Grant me pardon to the pass of the land in between your homes. _With the logical words out of the way, it was simply a matter of summoning the magic. It seemed too simple. Perhaps that is why it was buried in the heart of the book. Protected.

But I had no more time for those thoughts, because the blackness of induced unconsciousness dragged me down into the very place the spell was to take me. The in between.


	25. Chapter 25

The first thing that I registered was grayness.

It was not necessarily the color of the sky or the ground, but the color of my surroundings. Coating everything like dust, casting shadows that made my eyes address the obvious monochromatic shading before even deciding the objects in the vicinity. The charcoal was tangible, hanging heavy in the air and the very particles of oxygen glowing with otherworldly magic.

It made it very clear that the spell had worked.

So this was the world that the book referred to as The Great In-Between. Neither heaven nor hell, it is a strange little slice that hangs from the Sacred Realm.

It's a place for the lost spirits and elements of magic that are in limbo, waiting to be recycled, reused, made into something earthly again. The playground of the Goddesses.

_Where are you? _I thought, demanding the auras to show themselves.

All over, darkness, a whisper, a maddening laugh. _Midna._

My skin started to crawl and I hissed, my grip on the world starting to slip with the shocked beats of my heart. I forced myself to steady the line of vision and dig my claws deeper into the realm.

_It could be an illusion, _I thought, trying to reason with myself.

But he spoke again and my eyes followed the voice through the grayness. There he was. Translucent and chained to some sort of pole. As I started striding towards him, I expanded the reach of my reality, like a candle discovering more in the darkness. "Look what the cat dragged in," I laughed, trying to sound superior.

Because the last person I wanted to face in the realm of lost, trapped souls was Dark.

My head started to spin from the sickening spells of the place and the way things were moving too quickly. Every time I blinked, it seemed, something was different. Another challenge.

So why would I expect to get a break now?

"I wondered if you would find your way here, darling," he whispered, a grin spreading over his translucent form. The word _darling_ sent shivers down my spine and I nearly ignored him, but then, I saw the outline of a triangle on his hand.

And knew that he hadn't let go of the Triforce.

Borrowing from the pool of the Fused Shadows' magic, I gently reached out, magic flowing over my fingertips, and I touched his hand gingerly. The translucency disappeared and he was flesh again. _Mine. I'm in control of his flesh,_ I thought.

"I need something," I told him.

He leered in close. "I liked how you killed me, Midna. I would have enjoyed it so much more if it were the other way around."

The sadistic comment sent a little shiver through me, but I had the perfect way to match it. "I'm sure. But you would have never finished me off. You play with your food. It would have ruined your fun to kill me. That's the flaw you have."

Dark cackled, eyes so red that I thought blood would drip from them. "You're right. But I can already guess what you want, my darling. Something I told you about long ago."

"Excellent, Dark. I know what it can do. And I need that holy power."

"The TriShadow is an abomination. It will damn you to use it."

"I'm not worried about that."

His eyes narrowed and I ever so gently pulled the strings on the magic tighter. Not enough to alter his appearance, just enough to make him wince. "You don't get an explanation."

"Then what do I get?"

"The satisfaction of knowing that you win. That you screwed me up enough that in just a few short days, I'll be worse off than you will. I won't be in limbo, waiting to be reused. I'll be in the underworld. In hell." He looked like he was about to go ballistic, so I smiled. Showing fangs. "Let go of the Triforce, and you win."

For the first time, I realized that the theory of Dark being pure darkness, the anti Link, could be correct. I had expected him to show a little fear, but he was the same insane man that I had been tortured by.

I exhaled. "Time's wasting. So help me."

"See…" he grinned, bargaining again. "That's all true. I do win. But it just won't be any fun if I don't get to see you be destroyed. I don't want to be left all alone here. Where's the amusement in that?"

"I'm not an expert in dark magic, but I don't think there's a way to pull a jail break on you. Not from here. You might be stuck."

He rolled his eyes impatiently. "Of course I know that your magic is weak. Far too weak to break me out of here. But I have a solution that will help both of us in our quests, despite our goals being entirely different."

I raised an eyebrow and tapped my wrist. "Time's a wasting."

"There is never any guarantee that the Triforce will go to a specific person. Especially so in this situation, where you gamble on the Triforce going to you—someone who is not on the right side of the Goddesses. You hope to harness its power and match it with the Fused Shadows to give you an edge in battle. But what if I let go of the Triforce, dear Midna, and it does not go to you? What if the Goddesses simply take it for safe keeping?"

Pursing my lips, I cocked my head to the side and said, "You have a point. What's your solution? That oh so great one that supposedly meets both of our criteria?"

"Tie my existence to the Triforce. I will forever join the battle that wages inside of it, rebirthing a Hero, Zelda, and Ganon every century. And, I will be able to at least _somewhat_ guide it to you, ensuring that you get it."

His offer was tempting. A deal with the devil, yes, but I didn't care. What I did care about was throwing Dark into the mix. I knew the legends—that every few generations, a Hero named Link happened to be blessed with Courage, a princess named Zelda was blessed with Wisdom, and a villain named Ganondorf was blessed with Power. Did throwing Dark into the mix eliminate Ganon? Or did it make it so that the future Heroes had to face two foes instead of one?

Would doing this make it so that Link reincarnated would never be able to win?

_No,_ I hissed to myself, the horror of the thought washing over me so strongly that my grip on the realm loosened. I held myself down, ever so slightly gritting my teeth. Dark grinned, knowing exactly what was going through my head.

One little solution came to mind. An errant thought, really, but it was plausible enough to soothe me. If it looked bad, if it looked like the Goddesses were going to kill me and leave Link alone, then I could seal myself into the Triforce, as well.

Would that make me reborn as Link's enemy? Bound to Dark and Ganon?

I didn't believe it. My feelings were strong enough to preserve through time. I would never fight Link. But if I locked myself inside the Triforce, I could help to stave off the future Ganons and Darks.

_I don't like this,_ I thought, chewing on my lip. But I had no other choice—as usual, this was a last case scenario.

"How do I seal you inside the Triforce?"

He grinned.

"Tell me before I decide to wipe that smirk off your face. Or before the spell wears off and I find myself back…in reality."

"It's simple, really. Just a sorcerer's trick, to bind yourself to a material existence. I just need you to utter the first part with me, and it will be all set, and the Triforce will _most likely_ be yours."

_Pissing off the Goddesses again,_ I thought with an unhappy huff. "What's the first part?"

"The Oath of Binding." It was a common spell, one that nearly everyone in our realm was taught, yet it had very little use. A small miracle that I could remember it.

I nodded, uneasy. "Well, once we say the spell, what will happen? You go _pouf_ and live inside of the Triforce? Just like that?"

"As far as I know, dearest."

The word made my skin crawl, but I bite down on my lip and steadied my grip on the realm. _For all I know, the spell didn't work and I'm just dreaming this up,_ I think. Regardless. "Ready when you are."

Dark smiled. "Let's begin."

Our voices joined, the words sounding corrupt and evil, the auras in the gray drawing around us. "By the forces of evil and good and under the supreme law imposed by Farore, Din, and Nayru, and holding to the exile of the Twili: we ask that the oath we carry as follows be held as eternal law. From the dirt we came, and to the dirt we shall return, hear this command and solidify it under the sky."

I let my voice drop and let Dark continue his portion. But something seemed wrong. My vision started to warp and I felt the pull of reality dragging me back. _No! _I thought. _Hurry!_ Dark's mouth was forming words, and I caught a few of them—"_to bind me to the everlasting Triforce of Power—_" but what had seconds ago been a still realm was alive with wind, drowning out everything. I grabbed onto Dark, felt magic start to flow. The grayness came alive in different shades, stabbing into Dark and flowing, flowing, like a river over rocks and then creating a whirlpool. It sucked every particle of him down to one central point, and for the slightest second, light flared in my sight.

Everything returned to black.

-ABAB=ABAB=ABAB=ABAB=ABAB=ABAB=ABABABAB==ABAB

"Midna? Midna?"

My eyes flew open and a registered the heaving of breath, the tinge in my throat, knowing that I was crying out. I clamped down on my lip and forced myself to take a deep breath, taking in the scene around me.

Link stood inches away, dripping wet and half naked, eyes wide with panic. "I went to the back room to bathe and you started screaming. Are you alright?"

_Just a dream after all,_ I thought, and was about to say so, when I felt the first jabs of pain in my hand. Spreading to shapes, but feeling like acid. I drew blood from my lip and moaned. _Link will kill me,_ I thought. "F-fine. Please go. I'm fine."

"You're in pain," he gasped, grabbing my hand from my lap reflexively. I cried out and he lurched back, raising an eyebrow and examining my hand—which I had flipped over so that my palm was up—and frowned. "You have a fever. Your hand is burning hot." I bit my lip again and he grazed his fingers across my forehead.

Another frown. I choked back a whimper. _Not a dream. Definitely not a dream._ The pain was pulsing in and out, and I could not tell if it was a reaction to the incoming Triforce or perhaps its reaction, the magic mixing with my Twilit blood. "But your forehead is just fine."

I took in a deep breath and strained my voice, forming words that would hopefully embarrass him into leaving. I couldn't let him know about the Triforce. Not now. "Listen up, insensitive, I'm having a _female_ problem. How about you go get Ashei?" 

The bite in my words, the pain on my face, and the false statement immediately sent crimson to his cheeks. "Uhm." He shook his head and backed up to the doorway. "I think Ashei is in the Zora Domain with Abram. But I can get Telma."

I threw him a look and tried to decide how I would blackmail Telma into _not_ ratting me out.

Moments later, Telma entered and closed the door behind her. "Mid, hon?"

I whimpered, but tried to look put together. I jerked my head, beckoning her forward, and spoke in a hushed tone. "Listen carefully. I need you to do me a favor—" I took in a breath, hissing from the stab of pain in my hand that was spreading in tingles all over my arm and chest. "It's not a female problem. I need Link to stay away. And I need some whiskey. I'll pay you off. Just keep your mouth shut."

She frowned. "I might be big, but I'm not dumb. I know you're hiding something from him. And this is part of it."

"Let it lie," I muttered. "Just be quiet about it. See my pouch over in the corner? One silver rupee in it. Take it if you can seal your lips and get me something to drink."

Telma frowned, but overall, I knew what made her tick. She worked for tips, period. Crossing over to the other side of the room, she flipped the gleaming diamond into one of the folds of her skirt. Still, she glared at me and wagged her finger. "I don't know what you're up to. And I do not like it."

She left, but moments later, returned with a bottle of whiskey. With my good hand, I grasped the bottle and took a swig, letting the firey liquid work its way through my system. Telma made a face and left.

_I don't like it, either, _I thought. But I turned my right hand over in my lap and watched it pulse bright white, fade to gold, wash out to my skin tone, and then pulse again. I snorted and winced as the pulsing continued. _The Triforce of Power._

I knew nothing about the Triforce of Power or how it worked, merely that it _did_ work. I also knew that it made its bearers more at risk for corruption. I flashed examples in my mind—Ganon, Dark. And the effect of fully combining it with the Fused Shadows. . .I didn't know. All speculation.

But the one _sure_ fact was that this was not going to be taken lightly by the Goddesses. This was a proclamation of war, or at least a very dangerous dance down the line between war and peace.

I nursed the bottle of whiskey until my mind started fogging, the alcohol blending with the pain, each one battling for my attention until my brain started to shut off. I felt a coolness settle over my body, warping, and I vaguely wondered whether it was the Triforce solidifying its bond with my spirit. _Doesn't matter either way_, I thought, nesting the bottle down on the nightstand.

"She's just a little ill. Probably will be better when she wakes."

"Can I see her?"

"No, Link, let her sleep."

I went under the blanket of pain and liquor, let the curtain drape over me, and drifted off into what I thought was a pool of water on a hot summer day, and it wasn't long until the blackness pulled me unconscious.

=ABAB=ABAB=ABAB=ABAB=ABAB=ABAB=ABAB

Strange, horrifyingly vivid dreams haunted me while I slept. I saw my people start to drown in what I thought was a field of ice, freezing over them, separating them from me—and in the dream, I was coughing and wailing while I tried to scratch through the blizzard. I got the sense that I was gravely injured, but even in the dream, I could not bear to see my people go. I cried out so loudly that I became nothing but noise, pounding on the ice: musical notes and fire that shattered it quickly. My people were freed, landing safely on soft grass.

But I still woke up gasping for air.

Sunlight filtered in through the windows in the loft, cluing me in that it was around noon. I had thrown all of the blankets off of me sometime in my period of unconsciousness and I felt somewhat faint, in addition to a raging headache that I suspected was a product of the whiskey, but otherwise, the pain from—

_The Triforce. _I looked down at my hand and choked on my breath. Like a tattoo, there it was. On my blue skin, it looked to be the color of blood. Would it pulse golden if I were using it?

What kind of power did it bestow upon me, anyway? I knew that the Triforce had some basic healing properties—pain relief, at the least. _Let's try that, _I thought to myself. Gingerly, I placed my hand on my head, wondering how to command the power. _Get rid of the pain,_ I thought.

A small vibration rung across my hand, feeling like a warm compress—the sensation of herbs drawing infection out. Shocked, I drew my hand away from my head, noticed the triangles gleaming, coated in gold. They faded back to burgundy within seconds, and I immediately noticed a pleasant warmth where the sting of my hangover had been only a minute ago.

I grinned. _Power._

Suddenly, the odds were better. Surely, _surely_ I could make a deal with the Goddesses this way. With this incredible power. But could I master it—master it _and_ put it together with the Fused Shadows within six days? For the greater good—for the salvation of my people?

A shadow of doubt crept into my mind. Was this how it started with Dark? What about Ganon? Wanting the power for salvation of _his_ people? I shivered, thinking of his soul sealed away inside of the Triforce.

A knock at the door rattled me. "Midna?"

I hissed. Link couldn't see the Triforce.

"I'm up. Just a sec!" I rolled off the cot and into my makeshift wardrobe—clothes hanging off of a clothesline and trinkets in baskets beneath it. I sifted through the wicker containers until I found a pair of short black knuckle gloves that sufficiently covered the tattoo. I snuck a glance in the mirror and realized it looked too obvious with my Twilit robes.

I traded them for a gold & black imprinted jumpsuit with a crimson-colored shade around the shoulders. Traditionally, the outfit was for archers in my realm, though it had mostly been used as a show in parades. Slipping on a pair of leather boots, I jumped to the door.

Link raised an eyebrow. "Look like you're feeling better."

"Much so, Captain Obvious." I grinned, trying to hide my optimism/hope. "So what are we doing today? Six days till the world ends, so let's make this one count."

He sighed. "I had plans. But a guard from the castle came knocking. Zelda has requested you come see her. She's saying that it's urgent." Link frowned. "Not sure how anything could be more urgent that our situation, but apparently, it's connected."

_Uh-oh,_ I thought with a grimace. "You know Zelda. Probably concerned that my method of diplomacy will make her look bad."

Link eyed me somewhat suspiciously, sounding more like the fearsome Hero that the people called him as than the boy I knew. "You're hiding something."

I rolled my eyes, ignoring him completely. "I'm off to see Princess." I brushed a kiss against his cheek and edged around him, hand on the railing to go downstairs to the bar.

"Midna."

"Yes?"

"Your fever is gone," He observed. I stayed silent. "I'll escort you to the castle."

"Suit yourself," I said.


	26. Chapter 26

The journey to the castle and through the stairwells, up passages, and across walkways was much too short—mostly, me trying to continue pretending pessimistic—and it seemed like seconds later when Link and I stood in Zelda's throne room.

The guards had left and Zelda stood, eyes narrowed.

_She knows, _I thought. I elbowed Link. "Alright, Zel, let's talk privately. Link, can you go wait with the guards?"

Zelda spoke before he could respond. "He stays." Her voice contained quiet horror.

Fury rose within me, angry that Zelda—someone who I was undeniably connected to—could be turning her back on us in this way and _then_ having the audacity to be mad that I found a way around her antics. "Send him outside. Now."

"No, Midna," Link said. "What's going on?"

I turned to him, silencing him with my glare before turning the evil eye to Zelda. "He doesn't need to hear this. You're playing a political game with me. I'm no idiot."

She shook her head. "He needs to hear this because it is _three, _not _two,_ Midna."

Link, too, was getting agitated. "What's going on? Somebody needs to shine light on this. I'm tired of being in the dark. I know you're hiding something and I know Zelda knows what it is."

"Show him, Midna."

I growled. "No."

Zelda turned to Link. "Take off her right glove."

_Oh, hell no,_ I drew both of my hands sharply to my chest. Zelda, who I had never seen use her power for a malicious purpose, raised a finger and bound me still while Link grabbed the glove off of my hand. She put her finger down, ending the spell, and I took the opportunity to kick Link in the shin. He tumbled, but kept ahold of my hand, turned it over.

Long enough to see the tattoo.

"Dammit, Zelda!" I shrieked. "I didn't want him to know!"

Link's fury bled through, too. "Is this what you've been hiding? What did you do, Midna?"

The Princess watched coolly. I sharply ignored Link and turned all of my rage to her. I felt messy, felt like I was out of control, but I channeled the fury into something sensible, let the Triforce bled out a red haze around me, like fog in the air, hanging low and musky. "I did what I needed to. To keep you alive. To keep my people alive. Both of you are so stubborn that you would have _never_ listened!"

"You got the Triforce," Link whispered, anger giving way to the sharp sound of betrayal. My heart hurt hearing that, the red haze diluting to a more willowy gray.

"She did it by force," Zelda continued. "A spell, commonly used by dark sorcerers, that I would have never imagined her to know. It's old magic, traced to her ancestors. The ones banished to the Twilight Realm in the first place."

I huffed out air and refused to look at either of them.

Zelda softened her voice. "Midna, if this was in response to my lack of help…"

_Sigh. _"It's not because of that. It has nothing to do with you. It's because _I_ need to do what's going to protect my people, protect you, and protect Link. This was what I had to do to join in on this stupid fight."

I snuck a look at Link and regretted it immediately. His eyes blazed with every emotion under the sun: betrayal, sadness, and bitterness. But underneath the negativity, I saw the curiosity and something I wanted to say was joy. Something boyish…like he was glad I had joined the Triforce-carrying-club. "Don't look so glum," I whispered.

"Zelda said you took it by force. Define it."

I drew in a breath and decided against it with a firm shake of my head. Link knew better, though. "No secrets, Mid. Zelda will tell me if you don't."

"Something I know all too well, dog boy. Fine. I did a spell. Simple enough, people do spells all the time. It was out of a book of…uhm, forbidden magic, like Zel said. Took me to the realm in between this one, the Twilight realm, and…I retrieved the Triforce there." I would take the knowledge that Dark was sealed inside to my grave. Literally.

Zelda nodded. "She's telling the truth, now."

I chewed my lip and snuck another glance at Link, who shook his head and said, "This is disgusting. Not only are we the Three Triforce holders, but we've been through hell and back together. Through the spells of Twilight imposed by Zant, through me being a wolf, through you and Midna sharing a body, through Dark. . .we are hopelessly intertwined. But we're all working different agendas. We all have different goals in these last days of ours. How fair is that? How moral is it that? Midna…clearly, you have ulterior motives. You want to fight, probably to try and keep your people alive as well and Zelda and me, with no regard to your own fate. _I_ am trying to be the diplomat here, and Zelda…you're looking out for Hyrule and I'm sure that you and Midna have something worked out as far as insurance. What will it be, the two of you hold me down via binding spell on judgment day?"

"Link, that's not—" Zelda began.

He cut her off. "I want a decision made right now. All or nothing. Either all three of us come to a mutual agreement on a mutual goal or we all split up and do it alone." I saw the fire in his eyes and knew he was dead serious.

I closed my eyes and mentally sifted through my Shadow Storage, turning the pages of the books on the TriShadow. _Three fused shadows—one for each anti Goddess. _Anti Goddess? So the other end of the spectrum for Courage, Wisdom, and Power? I hadn't thought of using all three Triforces and combining them…I had only thought of one. That was daunting enough.

"I have a plan," we all said at the same instant.

"Link first," Zelda and I said.

He nodded curtly. "Obviously, diplomacy first. But Midna is gearing up for a fight and I see no reason not to come bringing all the firepower we possibly can. To help…convince…the Goddesses."

Zelda spoke next. "I'd like to, in the next few days, start displaying how well Light and Shadow compliment each other. Get the people mingling. Just to help press our point."

They both looked to me.

"I'm fine with both of your ideas. But. . .I have a back up plan, of course. And that is to make it _very_ costly for the Goddesses to wipe out my people—"

Link interrupted. "And you. I want you, right now, to factor yourself into the deal."

An eye roll. "Fine. My people, me, you, and Link. I want them to know that if they mess with one element of that group, they mess with the others. And…I have an insurance policy, in addition to that. Devious enough, but. . .I bound myself to the Triforce." That was a lie, considering I hadn't done so. "If they kill me, I go down the line. I will be reborn. They'll never get rid of me. And I'll make them pay."

They eyed me like I was crazy. "The war you wage is dangerous," Zelda cautioned. I met her gaze. "A war far bigger than Dark Link's death. The Goddesses themselves shall fight against you."

I nodded. "I'm aware."

Silence.

But Link spoke. "We're all on the same page, then. Let's do it. Midna, fess up. What are you planning on doing with your Triforce?"

I winced. "Link…something you won't approve of. But, ironically, it fits with showing how well Shadow and Light compliment each other."

"I'm prepared to not agree with you. You never ask for my approval, anyway."

The words flew from my lips like daggers. "I thought it was a myth, you know. But myths have a way of becoming reality. So here you go. I'm using the Triforce of Power to combine with the Fused Shadows."

Link's eyes bulged. I saw the recognition in them, the distant memory, months ago. The blackmail that let Dark get under my skin. The immense power that came with just a hint of Shadow Magic from the Fused Shadows mixing with the Triforce.

The holy implications it had, too.

"Link is, oh, regrettably familiar with how powerful this combination is, Zelda. I don't ask your help, because it's dangerous and reckless. I can use the Triforce of Power with them and it will be powerful enough."

"But it won't," she shook her head. "And our Hero has said it all too well. All or nothing. I will help you. And so will Link. The Triforce's three pieces will be in harmony with the three of the Fused Shadows. That will be the ultimate symbol of cooperation. The Triforce, in essence, has the ability to covet and change the very matter of human nature, while Fused Shadows concentrate more on drawing spiritual matter in, correct? Shadow Storage, for instance."

I nodded. "Sounds about right. Fused Shadows are more focusing on _shadow_—playing with the elements of darkness, invisibility, cloaking. Using them, usually, leads to your body being lent to the power of the Shadows and you transform into some ugly creature."

Now, shock wearing off, Link saw the beauty of this plan. "Combine the two…and it's ethereal. Beyond that. It's being able to take the world and shape it in your palm. It's something the Goddesses would certainly be interested in."

"Two sides of the same coin. Different, but when you put them together…it's valuable," I said, somewhat echoing Zelda. Hope swelled in my chest. "We're idiots, you know. I don't know if this will work. I don't know how to use all three of the Triforce. . .I don't know."

Zelda bit her lip. "I will scour as many bases of knowledge that I can. I assume you have a spell book, Midna. In the mean time, I want us to immediately start mixing our people. Perhaps the political leaders of your realm could meet with—"

And then the boy of Farore, Courage, the boy I loved, said something so profoundly true that it stole my breath for a moment. "No. Start with the children. The very picture of friendship and innocence. Let the Light kids meet with the Shadow ones. It is humanity at its most basic form." He shook his head, as if coming out of a daze. "That's what I think."

"Of course," I muttered. "It's ingenius. It's already somewhat happening. The Twilit kids in the Zora Domain are playing with the young Zoras. It's so simple, I feel like I'm braindead for not seeing it before Link did." I turned to Zelda again, tearing my eyes from the blizzard of blue in Link's eyes. "How soon can we do it? How do we get children to volunteer?"

Zelda's voice rose. "Warp to Ordon. Get the children from Ordon, Link. They trust you so much. That will be the simple step. Then take their parents to see the friendships. Perhaps pictographs will be helpful. Evidence. A testimony. Yes, this…this is our best shot."

I shot a quick look at Link. "Can we do it? We don't have much time to pull this entire thing off. Let's move it."

He walked towards me and I took his hand, preparing the spell around us. "Zelda," I said, eying her. "Start researching Start informing the townsfolk of the visitors." But as I snapped my fingers and let the warp dissolve me, I mouthed something to her. "You still have to keep him safe."

She nodded before we became the matter of particles, floating up through the skylight.


	27. Chapter 27

"Are they going to be mean?"

Link shook his head. "No, Talo. You'll like them. And so will Beth and Malo and Colin."

Beth eyed me uneasily. "Do all of the girls look like Princess Midna?"

I snorted. "They're not all that ugly." But I smiled at her to let her know that I was just playing, considering that my sarcasm was almost always lost on young kids.

We stood in Prince Ralis' throne room, talking to the kids one last time before we sent them out to meet the Twilit children. The sun was dipping down into the horizon, just budding evening: not quite to twilight, the light taking on more of a golden hue than its high sky brightness usually allowed. The plan was that they would stay the night in the Zora Domain, interacting, perhaps playing—hopefully, hopefully making great friends.

"What Mid means is that the Twilight Realm is a lot like ours in that people look different from each other." Link ruffled Colin's hair reassuringly as Prince Ralis leaped from the water to meet us.

"Ready for them."

"Okay, well, let's just…walk down?" Link asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Give them some credit, dog boy." I turned to the kids. "Want to swim with Ralis down to meet your new friends?"

True to their childlike natures, and possibly lured by the lukewarm Zora water that seemed to balance out the humidity in the air, they all nodded. "Then we'll see you all tomorrow."

Link smacked my arm. "They'll get wet."

"You're too protective."

Ralis led them down the stream from the throne room, towards the waterfall. I wasn't concerned. With tons of Zoras and Twilits watching over them, the kids couldn't drown if they tried to.

"What shall we do for the rest of the evening?"

"Let's see if Zelda wants to begin experimenting with the Triforce and Fused Shadows. Seems like the most productive thing to do, right?"

I smiled. "Productive. With six days left."

But we warped to Hyrule Castle, anyway, only to be told that Zelda had left us a message: she was in a meeting with three political councilmen regarding the situation and how to intertwine the people without making Hyrule aware of the extent of our dilemma. I wasn't happy about her telling councilmen, but there wasn't exactly anything I could do, so I sighed. "No destructive magic training for the night, then. I'm up for a drink."

"There's this great place called Telma's," Link teased.

"Right you are."

Castle Town was quiet as we strolled through, and I matched its silence, just watching the shadows dance until we got to the light of the alley. A few soldiers took outside the bar, smoking or sitting in heaps on the ground, apparently too drunk to walk home. Part of me was suddenly very grateful that Hyrule's army was not going to be backing us on the battlefield.

Telma's Bar was warm and smelled of country liquor, and it had a few of its regular customers: a girl who sold soaps west of the square, a young soldier who I believed to be named Max, and an older man who looked ready to croak. But what caught my eye was, at the far end of the bar, Ashei and Abram.

I frantically looked about the bar to see if anybody was screaming, but, apparently, it was under control. _I'm going to throttle you,_ I thought towards Ashei. I stared daggers at her until her senses tingled, telling her that she was being watched, and she turned. "Oh! Midna! Link!" Her cheeks turned bright red and I halfway expected the ceiling to cave in.

Link and I took the seats next to them. Abram laughed and I gave him a curious look. "What are you two doing out here?"

"Your friend Ashei is giving me a tour of Hyrule. How courteous of her, Midna."

Telma slid two beers down the counter, stopping them before Link and me. I took a sip and frowned. I didn't like the idea of Ashei and Abram having any kind of personal relationship. Feelings get messy, I think.

Ashei and Abram kept talking and Link whispered, "what are you frowning about?"

"I'm thinking. Using my brain," I muttered back. He raised an eyebrow.

"Enlighten me, Princess."

"Just a strange train of thought. You don't want to know." I raised a finger and snapped at Telma. She glared and I gestured to my beer. "Something stronger, Telma."

She rolled her eyes. "You're picky, hon." But she grabbed a bottle of buttery brown liquor off of the second shelf of her bar, poured it into a long vial, and handed it to me. I tilted it back and drained it, trying to dilute the sting of the thoughts running through my head. Insanity.

Link laughed nervously, quietly. "Now I do want to know."

"I'm wondering if, in hindsight, it would have been better of me to have never come back. Or, farther back then that, to never had met you."

The shock crossed his face and his brows furrowed. "Where did that come from?"

I let my eyes flit to Ashei and Abram, spoke my thoughts, let them flow. "Feelings get so messy. There's a reason I was with Ihira. Feelings were never apart of it. So there's no love lost if either of us dies. But with you? I'm driving myself into the ground, even now, even with our stupid agreement, trying to find a way to keep you safe. And you're doing the same. Goddesses know what Zelda is trying to do." I laughed at the irony of that last statement.

"So you would rather we be on two separate paths? Rather than deal with the struggle?" A boy who was blessed with Courage really could never understand my cowardly mind, so I smiled.

"No. But there's really no limit as to what I would do to make it so that I don't feel guilty sitting next to you, Hero. Because oh, I feel guilty." I shook my head. "Shutting up now. Too much booze already. Damn you, Telma."

Ashei and Abram were doing shots and my vision was blurring at the edges. "Ashei," I slurred. "Come outside with me." I was intending to warn her. She laughed at me, shook her head.

"You've had too much to drink already, yeah?"

I shook my head. "No! One beer. One vial of that brown stuff." Even though I couldn't find the words to put past my lips, I knew it was a hangover from the Triforce's reaction to my Twilit body. The chemical instabilities mixed. It didn't seem logical to explain it, though. "You two...have been here much longer. Alone." I raised my eyebrows, amused. "So you've either been busy talking or you've been drinking."

Link patted me on the back, slid me off my stool. I gave him a look. "Let's get some fresh air. You look ill."

I stumbled out into the alley, Link's fingers tight on my shoulder. The soldiers were gone, the world was spinning, and I was regretting every word coming out of my mouth. "Quiet," I hissed.

"What?" Link sat me down on a spare crate in the alley and I gulped down the cooling evening air.

"I said I need to be quiet." I wagged a finger at him. "I suck. And you're too nice."

He shook his head, eyes looking like blackness in the night. "I'm definitely not too nice. I might not understand you all the time, but you've always been like that."

I frowned. "Disagree."

Link laughed, the sound vibrating oddly in my ears. "You always disagree. I wonder if it's just to get under my skin. You do get under my skin a lot."

"Is this 'honesty hour' or something, dog boy? Ten confessions?"

Another chuckle. "I'd expect the sky to fall if you told me ten confessions."

My mind swirled and I spat as many facts as I could, counting on my fingers until I ran out of them. "My favorite color is dark blue, I don't like chocolate, I'm jealous of Zelda, I have a guilt complex, my hair is natural, magic is a drug, drinking makes me sad, my parents are in prison with the rest of the worst of my kind and they weren't evacuated, and I'll never forgive myself for being in love with you. Oh. Also, my favorite instrument is probably the harp."

Link frowned now, and he raised an eyebrow at the serious facts mixed in with the humorous ones. Try it, I thought, ready to be defensive, try and get more information out of me-

"The sky didn't fall," he quietly noted, voice too tender, far too kind. Too much for a girl like me. A girl who would be at home in destruction, darkness, twilight. A girl who was in the process of tying her soul to his enemies. No wonder the Goddesses wanted me gone. I had corrupted their Hero. He saw my expression and sighed. "Midna."

"Drinking makes me unable to lie," I amended. Not exactly true. It just made my guard so much lower. Same difference.

"Are there any more secrets that you're keeping? Now's the time to divulge all."

I snorted. "No." I couldn't bear the weight of the conversation falling onto me, so I tipped the scale. "Hey. Your turn. Pay up ten confessions."

"My favorite color is dark red. I'm not a fan of Zelda. I'm not as selfless as people think. I hated growing up in the farming community. I pray every day that I'm dreaming this entire mess and I'll wake up soon. I don't have a harp. Telma scares me. Abram also scares me. Ihira annoyed me. And, Midna, I know you can lie, because you're still keeping three secrets."

Silence. I tried to stand. I was an idiot. The bearer of Courage could tap into his powers just as easily as Zelda could. "And you don't know what they are."

"Dark blackmailed you when we first met him. He was going to tell me that you were the Princess of Twilight."

That's one.

"You did something to the Triforce. Something that has Zelda worried."

I waited for the third and final one. "Two out of three," I muttered.

"You met my mother's ghost."

"Jackpot." I heard the faint ring of his Triforce, and I vaguely wondered if I could do that, too. Decipher people's secrets. My power was hard enough to control. But I vaguely wondered if these were just dark suspicions he had harbored, skating on the edge of his soul, and his Courage just gave him the...well, courage, to voice them. "She hated me."

He snorted, this time. "For some reason, that doesn't surprise me. You're not likable to strangers under stressful circumstances."

"Do you want the story, dog boy?"

Link shook his head. "No. Keep the details to yourself. I don't want to hear them."

I heard the pain in his voice, the wry disappointment, and I cursed myself, reaching for him. I ran my fingers down the side of his face, but pulled back and sighed. "No wonder I got stuck with Power. I'm a monster, too. Just like Ganon. Just like Dark."

He shook his head in denial. "You're not a monster."

I laughed. "Think whatever you want to, Link."

His turn to run his fingers through my hair, down my face, eyes inches from mine. Link sighed and I knew he definitely had courage, or stupidity, or both. "I think...that I definitely love you."

"That's terrible, I'm sorry," I sighed, letting my eyes shuffle downwards. He tipped my chin with his fingers, not letting me run away, and I rolled my eyes bemusedly. "But what's worse is that I definitely love you, too."

"Good to hear. You had me worried with Ihira."

I laughed impishly. "If you think Ihira is bad, remind me not to let you go through the skeletons in my closet anytime soon."

He shuddered, I shivered. "Come on. It's getting freaking chilly out here. I wonder if that old hag Telma has some tea laying around somewhere."

Link smiled, wrapping his arm around my waist. "Don't get your hopes up, Princess."


	28. Chapter 28

"_Midnaaaaa."_

_ "O Twilight Princess, how kind of you to join us here."_

_ Eerie laughed danced across my skin and hands clasped my ankles. Red stained my vision, like the whole world was morphing into a blood vessel. A river of blood. An artery. It fogged, a miasma, and choked my lungs. The voices, all too sadistic and all too familiar, haunted me, held me down-_

_ "Why don't you use your Power to escape us?" One laughed, turning into pure darkness and curling around me like a viper. Ganon materialized, inches from my face, hands around my neck. "O Powerful Midna, why don't you use that holy blasphemy of yours?"_

"_Dark!" I screamed, futilely, because he was right there, too; replacing Ganon, hands_

_around my throat, grin leering so close to mine that the air we were breathing was the same._

_ "I know why, dear, because we are here, too. And don't forget that your Power comes from our desires."_

_ I started choking, flailing. "LINK!"_

I sat straight up in bed, eyes flinging open, hands tangled in sheets that I had flung off of me in my terror. It was far too terrifying to be a dream. It was the very being of my Triforce and the souls trapped inside of it screwing with my head.

My head that pounded with yet another hangover. I briefly contemplated that I was becoming quite the drunkard, when I went to smooth my hair over my shoulder-

I froze, horrified. I wasn't wearing my clothes. No clothes at all, really. Biting my lip to keep from screaming, I turned my gaze to the other side of the bed. A very shirtless Link grinned at me.

My eyes widened and I wondered if I could shoot flames from my fingertips. It felt like I could, if I willed it to be so. I decided not to, instead, raising one humiliated eyebrow and covering myself with a sheet. "Three seconds to explain," I growled.

"You're not this modest when you're drunk."

I wondered if I could singe his eyebrows off.

"You let me keep drinking after we went back inside?" I demanded, sifting through my memories, finding them too foggy for my liking.

"Ashei did shots with you," he offered, baiting me.

Blood flowed to my face. I looked at my Triforce. "I wonder if I can-or should-use this thing to help me uncloud my memories."

Link chuckled boyishly. "If me seeing you topless is making your cheeks this red, I definitely, definitely wouldn't look at last night's memories. Your choice, though."

I sunk back down underneath the covers and pulled a pillow over my head. Suddenly, Dark and Ganon didn't seem like terrible company.

"Fuck you," I faintly mumbled, memories flooding back whether or not I wanted them to. He laughed again. I yanked the pillow off my face and sharply declared, "_don't_respond to that."

He ruffled my hair. "I'll let you get dressed alone, O Modest Princess. We need to get up to the Zora Domain and see how our little experiment with the Twilit kids did."

I buried my face in the sheets until I heard the door shut behind Link. I did not want to think about what just happened, but I did want my hangover gone, so I raised my Triforce to my forehead and whispered a command. "Stop the pain_."_

It did, without unfogging my memories. A relief. I tossed the sheets off and put on a pair of black leather pants and a sturdy, golden and cyan top, made of some hard material I couldn't name. Scales? Maybe. Didn't matter. Slipped on my pair of boots and barreled down the bar stairs.

Telma shoved a cup of black coffee to me and I vaguely noted that Ashei, who didn't look to have gotten _any_ sleep, was sitting slurping at her own hangover remedy. Grabbing the coffee, I eyed the two of them. "I will incinerate both of you if you _ever_pull something like that again. Got it?"

"Somebody's in a bad mood," Telma cackled. Ashei groaned and raised her cup to her forehead.

I bit my lips to keep myself from turning scarlet. "Incinerate," I emphasized. "Where'd Hero go?"

"Out in the alley. Waiting for you."

I slurped at the coffee, which tasted more like straight dirt, and frowned half heartedly. "Of all the things I need right now, a hangover and utter humiliation did not top the list." I slammed the cup down and heard Ashei quietly say "score" before I walked out into the alley.

Link smiled, leaning against the alley wall, face drenched in early morning sunlight. "You look-"

I glared and he guffawed. "I'm going to get you back, Link."

He snorted. "You're just hiding how embarrassed you are with threats. Silly."

Clearing my throat and ignoring him, I cracked my knuckles, summoning magic. "Keep is appropriate for the kiddos, dog boy."

ABABABABABABABABA

Touching down in the Zora Domain, I was not sure of what to expect. Children, after all, were children and had been raised with their parent's unfortunate opinions. The Twilit children had grown up with an apprehension for Light Dwellers and the Hylian children had grown up with the stories of criminals banished to the Twilight Realm. The best I was hoping for was that they could be _somewhat_friendly to each other.

But when I pulled myself out of the throne room pool, with cool morning silence drifting through the air, I frowned. So did Link. "Did you hear that?" I asked, cocking my head and gesturing down the waterfall.

"Yes. It sounded like..."

The trickling noise came again, like bubbles popping over rocks.

"Laughter."

We were running before we knew it, diving off the edge and flying through the air, morning mist dense and heavy against our skin. I sank down into the water and propelled myself upwards, breaking surface, out of the water once more-

There. On the bank. "You're it, Halyla!" And the noise of giggles came once more as Link and I yanked ourselves up from the main water basin.

_Night flower,_I thought. The name rang a bell. Generally name for a Twilit noble's child. But why was it surrounded by giggles, caressed by the tones of familiarity? I leaned against the rock and watched as a shadow girl, floating through the air with ease and control, chased Talo down stream. They ended in the shadow of the beginning of cavern leading to the upstream canal.

I watched, in awe, as the shadows of the cavern pooled on the Halyla's skin, making her still a shadow; but slightly more colored. Translucent. The color of her skin, probably a little lighter than mine, was like bluish marble.

"Hey, you're pretty!"

I gasped. So did Link.

"Thanks!" The Twilit girl responded cheerfully. She reached out and punched his arm. "You're it!"

Our display was interrupted by Ralis pulling himself onto the bank next to us. "You look to be in shock, Midna!"

I turned to him immediately. "Where are the others? The other kids? Is it just them? How is this-"

"It's better than we were hoping for," Link translated, sliding his fingers into my hand and giving me a reassuring squeeze. I blinked rapidly and felt a steady vibration in my Triforce. It was incredibly warm, flooding me with hope. I desperately stomped on it.

Ralis grinned boyishly. "It's not just Talo and the girl named Halyla. Though I do think that they enjoy each other. All of the children of Ordon are absolutely taken with the children of the Twilit, and vice versa. In fact, I think the Twilit children are competing for attention." He smiled widely, gesturing to one of the various ledges leading up to the throne room. Beth sat, arms crossed, while three young Twilit boys performed minor shadow spells. Clearly _competing_.

"Unbelievable," I whispered. "Did you quiz the parents on what they thought of this?"

"No," Ralis told me. "I waited for you. I didn't want to infringe upon your ruling rights."

"Screw my ruling rights!" I laughed, incredulous.

Because, in the next few days, I gave away my ruling rights. I was just one of the three Bearers, working hard against the Creators, trying to make everything fall into place. Within hours, we had warped the parents of Ordon to the Zora Domain, showing them the Twilit Children, letting the parents meet. It was amusing, heartwarming, and very hard not to be hopeful: especially when Bo and Abram, two Mayors, met one another and started discussing farming and how it related to politics. Children dove off the waterfall and introduced new friends to their parents.

It was wildly successful in the controlled experiments, but it wasn't until the morning that Zelda unveiled the new friendships and 'visitors' to the general population that I became _very glad_ that we had chosen to hide some things from certain people.

ABABABABABABABABAB

The crowd was going wild. Not in a riot-y way, but in a shocked, curious, stupidly Hylian way. We had taken a select few dozen Twilits, both children and adults, to Castle Town and let Zelda give a speech. It was part bogus, part reality. The Twilits were visiting: true. They were going home soon: unsure, so false. They were very excited to meet Hylians and explore Hyrule more: true.

We let them go mingle, a flurry of events having blurred my surroundings and the concept of time passing so much that I was breathless at every single second. I heard the usual shouts of the Castle Square be amplified with questions, _oooohs,_ _ahhhs,_ and...again, the _stupidly_nice Hylians.

So trusting. So soft. So dedicated to random causes.

There was nothing left to do. Shadow and Light were clearly mingling, coexisting peacefully despite their differences. We had great examples of that. So Link, Zelda and I slipped away to the depths of Hyrule Castle to prepare for the next day.

"Do we need to memorize specific incarnations?" Link asked.

Zelda and I both shook our heads. "It's much more...wild than that. Much more spiritual. Not so much about spell casting, as far as I know," I explained, leaning against what I thought was a dungeon wall. This level of the basement used to be used for guard training, something that was not occurring at the moment, and it was the only place in Hyrule Castle that was _not_abuzz with the sudden news of visitors.

Time was moving too quickly. Everything was coming to an end.

"Then how do we practice?" The ever-curious Hero in Green questioned.

Zelda, who knew much more about the Triforce than either of us, smiled. "We should summon our Triforces and try to connect them. Then, we shall throw the Fused Shadows into the mix. It will be on a very small scale, just to give us an idea of the power we're wielding. We will not know the _full_extent this thing called the TriShadow until...the time we fully use it, that is."

I frowned, knowing how stupid it seemed to "summon" the Triforce. I looked at my hand and thought encouraging things to it, wondering all the way how Link and Zelda did it. _Hereeee, Triforce of Power. Wake upppp. _

It did, glowing softly and golden. I raised my hand with a smirk, leveling it with Wisdom and Courage.

The three pieces seemed to hum in joy of being so harmonious and close with each other. An encouraging sign. "Can we command them to work together?" Zelda asked methodically, voice low and studious. "To share our control."

Golden strings of light filtered through the air at this request, connecting the three of us. I gasped, inhaling sharply. It was like being able to see _every_ option for _every_thing, calculations, warnings, massive forces of...nature? Spirit?

It made me removed from the situation. Made it very easy for me to tap into the Triforce and burrow my soul into it, intertwining it, sealing my fate to that of the Triforce of Power. I did this silently, before any of us could speak from the sudden jolt of spiritual matter inside of us.

"Incredible," Link breathed. "We're connected." He was right. Our thoughts were connected. Currently, we were flipping through the joy we had all felt at the images of the children of our realms playing together. The hope it gave us.

I raised a finger and carefully drew upon the Fused Shadows. "Not fully connecting them. Just...trying to familiarize all of us with the presence of Shadow magic, and how it feels with Light." The helm was elevated in the air in the middle of us, and colors of amber, cyan, and black flowed from it. I drew it into the strings connecting us, very gently, very controlled.

It did not feel wrong to me-it felt refreshing. A cool breeze on a hot day. I heard Link and Zelda grit their teeth, and gasp. It must feel the opposite to them: a blast of desert on a humid day.

But the sensation faded, and we all collectively laughed. Our thoughts were connected, yes, but now, so were our spirits. It was like we could all see the spiritual matter buzzing in the air between us, particles flying between us, little jots of magic.

The ability to manipulate shadows and light, like a candle, was present on our minds. But before we could do it, go further, we all three yanked back on the power. Our Triforces stopped glowing and the Fused Shadows flew back to my Shadow Storage.

"We'll be able to make a very good case," I summarized, breathless.

Link grinned. "This is better than I thought. We'll be able to present our evidence, just drawing the memories into existence...wow."

Zelda nodded. "It is good that we are a little bit in tune to the force we will be using. Clearly, it will be great." Her gaze iced over for a few seconds. "It will be tomorrow morning. South of the town. In the field."

"Keep it quiet," I muttered.

Because the Hylians were stupidly devoted, stupidly loving, and stupidly brave.


	29. Chapter 29

The morning dawn came with streaks of rose, red, and gold. It was a welcome sight. Zelda, Link and I had spent the night in Zelda's room, lying on the floor and trying to freeze time. It was useless, of course. Our time was up and as powerful as we Bearers were, we could not control the inevitable.

We made our way down through the halls, empty with the hour, and through the near deserted streets. We had debated whether or not to give Ralis or Ashei or Telma a heads up on what might happen, but ultimately, we figured that there was nothing good that would come of it. Just grief.

The field south of Castle Town was empty, as expected. The beginning day brought sunshine filtering down, and I exhaled heavily. "Well, before this begins..." I stopped and hugged Zelda's little frame. "I can't thank you enough, Zel. I love you. You're a twig, but I love you."

She nodded, squeezing me back. "I love you, too, Midna. If it helps...my latest visions indicate the Goddesses have skipped going to the Twilight Realm, as we predicted. They know that you evacuated all but the Dark Lands. This wasn't in vain. We've done well."

I exhaled a huge breath. "Good." Then I turned to Link. "I love you too, dog breath. I...I'm glad we're doing this together."

Link embraced me, and then Zelda. "This isn't goodbye. This is only beginning. We can do this. Have some faith."

We all held hands, me standing in the center, and turned skyward.

It took seconds, comical, really, how little time it took.

But light came filtering down, pure and clean as snow, and the light piled into three distinct shapes in front of us. We released each other's hands, squinting into the pureness, watching as it melted off, revealing the forms beneath it.

And then, we saw them.

I was the only one not bowing, not completely _overwhelmed_ by the magnitude of pressure rolling off of the three Goddesses in front of us. I felt the weight, felt the temptation to fall on my knees, but I was able to hold my ground against my wonder. Perhaps it was because the TriShadow's center, its heartbeat, was balanced on _me_, while Zelda and Link were just side components.

Link, to my left, was at the feet of the Goddess Farore, who radiated the color of warm ivy. The air around her was tinged emerald, intertwined with ribbons of gold. Her eyes, cool and beautiful with the shade of forest, were kind, motherly, earthly. She stood a little more humbly than Nayru or Din: long chestnut hair with, again, green streaks filtered evenly through it. She wore a green tunic, not unlike Link's, a little darker, more vivid in its shading. In her earthly body shape, she was a little smaller, rounder, _humble. _She warmly smiled at him, putting one hand on his shoulder. But behind the natural warmth she projected was a fierce wave of sheer determination, will power, and courage that made me connect her _immediately_with the Triforce of Courage.

To my right, Zelda was at the feet of the Goddess Nayru. She looked older, if possible in their ageless ways, with long, board straight silver hair tinged with blue. She was the tallest of the three, the most slender, not unlike Zelda. Her expression was longer, more narrow, much more wistful. Eyes like ice glowed as she touched Zelda's shoulder with three fingers, an inky navy tunic hanging off of her like a faerie. Beacons of blue and gold swirled around her, dancing auras and glowing off of her skin. She, too, held a sort of quiet power. It was not humble or earthly like Farore's, let alone motherly. It was the power of someone who saw _everything_, who knew how to make sacrifices based on outcomes. Calculations. Yes, the Triforce of Wisdom.

I tore my eyes from them and silently appraised the third Goddess, Din, in front of me. She did not look hopeful like Farore or wistful like Nayru. Contrary, her expression was amused, if a little predatory. Her eyes, not the color of blood but the essence of flame itself, held a sort of emotion that I wanted to call madness. But it was not. It was a type of brilliance found only in the power of darkness. But was it _darkness?_ Surely, she was a light. _Fire. _The very air around her sizzled. It was as though someone had made the direct translation from the element of flame to a human form. Deadly hair hung in wild Medusa curls around her face, face sharp and _powerful_, tall and thin but strong. Clearly the strongest of the three in her stature. Her tunic _was_ the color of blood and it somehow complimented the aura of red and gold around her. She shimmered like a forest flame, but it was not the innocent candle that hikers took with them. It was the angry embers that spat sparks onto giant trees, burning them in seconds. She _was_power. The Triforce of Power.

She did not make a move to touch me, like Farore or Nayru with Link and Zelda. She smirked. I gave a quick two finger salute and a nod.

"Twilight Princess," She acknowledged.

Nayru and Farore's gazes found their way to my face. Link and Zelda, done with their strange bowing, flanked me. The very air around me _sang_with magic, billows of shadow and light framing the three of us like a curtain. As an introductory greeting, I raised my fingers ever so slightly. The streams of magic flew vertically around us, creating rainbows of nameless colors. Harmony. Shadow, darkness, twilight, meeting with the elements of light, mingling with wisdom, courage, and power. The air darkened like smoke and I curved the spell around Link, Zelda and I like a cape. It stretched up to the sky, a veil.

"Hello," I allowed.

Link stepped forward. Zelda and I fell in position to flank him. Nayru and Farore looked at him respectfully, but Din's curiously deadly eyes never left mine.

"My child," Farore smiled. Clearly the Link of their trio. Trying to be a diplomat.

"Holy Mother Farore," He responded, smile equally genuine and warm. "We are all aware of the grave justice you all intend to seek."

"You speak as though you believe it is truly justice we intend to speak, yet your heart sings a different tune. You hope for a different outcome."

A slight whisper fell from Din's lips and it was as though my magic gave me a split second of reaction time. I curled the veil of shadow and light around us and it flashed in front of me, meeting Din's preliminary attack. The separate magics, holy and bright and ethereal and unreal, curved into blades. They met with a sharp _x_in air. A stalemate.

Nayru, so fast that there was no _movement_in her action, extended her hand and drew back Din's magical advance, summoning like it had been her own. Din laughed, the noise not unlike the trumpets of war.

Zelda and Link, stunned, turned to me. Take aside Link and Farore's attempts at diplomacy, there was no room here to get aside from the purpose. Every second was another opportunity for Din or Nayru or even Farore to take me down.

"Are you going to let him speak? Or are you really in _such_a hurry that you'd like to take my head off at this very second?" I challenged, sending streams of twilight, shadow, light shooting down into the earth. I let it grow, root, curling down and up like an orb. Clutching whole sections of earth, earth that would fall and crumble should my grip be released.

Farore looked at her soul children, the Hero garbed in forest green, and then looked at me curiously. She followed the beams of magic down into the earth, through its veins, and glanced at the forests around us in a somewhat sad manner before settling her gaze on Din. "If you are hasty, sister, whole sections of our beautiful earth shall wither. Do not underestimate the Power she wields in your name."

Din laughed again. "A bastard child of mine. Speak, Hero."

Zelda looked at me and then, alarmingly, back at Nayru. Like ice spreading into the air, Nayru exhaled a magical smoke. Zelda raised her arms, air rippling and shimmering, blocking the mist with her hands. The smoke and her defense created patterns in the air all around her and Nayru-a puzzle. A gate.

I summoned a blade from the very magic dwelling beneath the earth, bringing it against the manifested rapier Din produced. Sparks flew and flames of unearthly colors were born where our blades kissed and I curtained mine in a flow of pure blackness.

"_Yes,_" I yelled, anger flushing through me. "Speak, Link, unless your dear _Holy Mother_ intends to fight you, to challenge her own _child_as it seems that the other two have so nobly decided to do."

"Child," I heard through the haze of my blade clashing. "Do not-"

Din's blade turned into smoke, her skin pure _flame_, reaching for me. My sword turned into fingers of unnatural fire, spreading, shoving her hands back and clenching around her neck. In return, she grasped my neck and we tumbled to the ground, and mess of _heat_. I saw the plan flash in her eyes a second too late, drawing upon my own source of holy magic _just not fast enough_. Chains smashed down on my wrists, materializing out of nowhere.

Hell. Literally.

"Damn you and your awful Power and your awful soul and your sickness and _damn you _you _freak_!" I screamed, drawing the power so close that it singed my skin and scratched the surface of my very soul. As it did, I felt undiluted whispers of darkness freely flow from within my Triforce and dance to the mixture of the Fused Shadows, changing my form to liquid magma, flowing and turning into an awful red shadow. I slid from the chains and coiled around the human form of the Goddess, a bastard python. I was back in reality, we were back on the ground in Hyrule field, locked into a eternal struggle playing out within seconds. I _slammed_veins of the TriShadow down, freeing myself from Din.

Link and Farore were locked in silence, mouths curled into horror, their discomfort literally bleeding out of them in haze of green. It was as though they counted it as a weapon, tangoing in their own struggle. Nayru and Zelda had their hands on the glowing patterns in front of them, like force fields pushing against each other.

"Enough," Farore whispered. "Share your testimony. Sisters, stand down."

They did so, placing their hands behind their backs. "I think it would be better to let Midna show you the basis of our testimony." Link looked at me and I summoned the memories, shaping them into translucent actors before the Goddesses.

I narrated the scenes as they played out. "These are Twilit children from my realm playing with children from this realm. Light and shadow, coexisting wonderfully, simply, purely, rightfully." Talo and Halyla's figures vanished into shadow particles and I threw another one out with a smile. "Their parents meeting." Then, Ashei and Abram at the bar, laughing and smiling. "Love that does not discriminate between shadow and light."

On a whim, I threw in some of my own memories, shocked when I had to blink back tears. This was a lot to gamble on. A lot to lose. Link carrying me, sick, diseased, dying to Princess Zelda after fighting Zant. Me, curving my fingers around his face. Nights spent around the campfire. More recently, much more painfully, me collapsing into his arms in the Mirror Chamber after escaping from Dark. Him seeing the wounds left from the excessive warp spells. Just mornings ago, me waking up next to him, blushing furiously. And, finally, Link, Zelda and I embracing before venturing out of Castle Town this morning.

"So you see," I choked back more tears, trying to laugh them off, anything but to show my weaknesses. "Shadow and light share the same affections, some compassions, and same suffering. We're all the same village idiots. We all leave our windows open at night."

The Goddesses were silent, waiting.

Zelda and Link's Triforces started to ring, vibrations pulsing in the air, drawing their powers like magnets to my own. We connected. I felt their heartbeats, though we stood yards away from each other. The connection was real, physical, tangible, golden light dancing around us. So as I drew upon the full measure of the Fused Shadow, bringing smoke to the fire between the trio, it cemented the argument. The very air around us changed, the particles becoming little playthings in our hands. With the cooperation of both Shadow and Light, of holy and unholy, of suffering and triumph, the TriShadow sang out in awe inspiring harmony.

I let Zelda speak.

"We have joined the most holy measures of power that the beings of Shadow and Light know to exist. It is not destructive, though it very well could be." I let Zelda draw upon the source of power, a basin between the three of our minds, deep and cool like glass. She drew designs of unearthly colors, gesturing to the roots of the TriShadow that I had sent deep beneath the ground moments ago. She gathered up what looked like air in fingers, cupped it in her palm, and scattered the seeds of bright golden flowers all around us. They sprouted and grew into walls of sunflowers. "Beautiful," she whispered to nobody in particular.

Din chuckled and for good measure, to illustrate that it wasn't _all_about growing gardens, I clenched my fist and a pool of flames appeared in the field to our west. I extinguished the fire, in its place leaving charred streaks of earth. "But even when the fire is burnt out, life comes back," I reasoned.

Link's turn. He stared intently at the blackened field and, with a low whistle, brought greenery and herbs back to it. Birds of beautiful, vibrant colors sang and danced with faeries that materialized out of the sheer capacity of the TriShadow.

Finally, we were quiet. I let the hum of ethereal auras speak for us. I knew that the Goddesses were beginning to realize it, that if they dared to harm this, their losses would be great. There was no way that they could hurt me, my people, my realm: not when we had intertwined the root systems so much that Light and Shadow could never again be without one another.

Nayru spoke, her words a somewhat astonished sigh. "You, Twilight Princess, are foolhearted."

"She's not foolhearted," Link defended. He looked at me, eyes so bright that my heart skipped a beat. "She's just insanely devoted."

"What Sister Nayru is trying to say is that the effect of this transformation, this change you have performed with the very chemical matters of this world using spiritual power, has created many complications," Farore said. "You were not wrong. We came here to apprehend the Twilight Princess Midna. We knew that you, our child Link, adored her and perhaps even loved her: but we did not expect the extent that you all would go to, just to protect the element of darkness. But your case, the evidence you have presented, is moving."

Din shook her head. "Regardless over personal opinions of this case, you have triggered a specific chain of events by this mixing of Light and Shadow."

Nayru, the calculator, nodded. "Simple cause-and-effect. The cause can no longer be eliminated, now that the effect is in motion. Therefore, we shall commission all of you to rebalance this equation." She created her own holograms, screens of data, in front of us, narrating them as they went along.

"With the fusing of Light and Shadow, Dark Link is now in alliance with Ganondorf within the Triforce of Power." She drew up an image of their sadistic eyes, the noise of their horrid laughter. I grit my teeth. "She has also tied her own soul to the reincarnation of the Triforce. Unfortunately, this has thrown the balance. When the next cycle comes, when you three's bodies are gone and you are reborn to a new Hyrule, centuries later, there is little chance of good prevailing. There will be Dark Ages. The very existence of Hyrule and its people will be in danger."

"As Goddesses, can't you stop the destruction?" Link asked.

"We cannot control the Triforce's powers, how they are used." Din laughed. "Or we would have squashed the idea of getting the Triforce of Power right out of your darling Princess' mind. We may be able to _botch_it, make it hard to channel, as we did to Zelda's Wisdom, but we cannot fully eliminate it."

"Cheery," I muttered. I turned back to the Goddess Nayru. "Keep going."

"The equation is out of balance. The natural world will be out of balance. Hyrule itself, at the beginning of the next cycle, will be drenched in Darkness. Not Shadow, mind you. Darkness. Evil. Malice. The features you have disassociated with your people."

"So that's it?" I asked, incredulous. "We're all gonna die and Dark and Ganon are going to piss on our graves while they dine on the blood of Hyrule?"

Link shook his head. "You are all Divine Beings and Zelda, Midna and I are willing to go to all kinds of extents to take responsibility for the effects we've caused. There has to be something we can do."

It was clear that Farore, Nayru, and Din had not been expecting us to lay ourselves bare. Like they had been hiding an option from us. I raised an eyebrow, crossed my arms. "Well? Are you going to tell us what this big secret is? The one you're all thinking right now? Or are you going to lie to us?"

There was a beat of quiet. And then, Din's war trumpet laugh sounded again. This time, though, it was slightly...upbeat. I realized she was staring at me and frowned. "I give up, my bastard child. I give up. You truly are egotistically _blunt_ and _bold_enough to wield Power."

I made a face and wondered what that had to do with anything, but Zelda said it for me. "Goddesses, please, let us try to work this out. As Link and Midna have expressed, we are willing to do penance for our actions eternally."

She was baiting them.

And Link, Zelda and I all caught it when the Goddesses' breathing hitched a little on _eternally._The elephant in the room.

"Eternally. You might not be able to control what will happen if the next cycle begins...but what if we stop the next cycle from coming? What if Link, Zelda and I are made into immortal beings?" I realized that it _did_sound a little bold, so I laughed. "Not Gods, of course. Just...unable to die. Wouldn't that solve the issue of Dark and Ganon coming back to life and unbalancing everything?"

Din frowned, apparently not in favor of the idea. Nayru seemed to be calculating something, thinking it through, and Farore looked a little sad. "With that...we would forever take away the possibility of reliving youth. Do you remember, Link?" She stepped forward, motherly again, cupping her hand around Link's cheek. "Do you remember sailing the Great Sea? Do you remember playing in the forest? Do you remember having brothers? I know you do, my child. And the most wonderful, merciful thing of _your_Triforce is that it has always allowed you to relive the innocence of childhood, over and over again. It does not terrify you with visions, as Zelda's does. It does not horrify you with whispers of blood, as Midna's will."

"I would give it up, Mother Farore. I do remember. I have loved it all so much. The wind, the forests. But if it is either give that up or allow the risk of Hyrule being plunged into Darkness under Dark and Ganon...I would give it up. I would make the sacrifice. It would be my punishment."

Nayru looked at Zelda and looked somewhat sad, as well. "Child, you are always given visions in your youth. But you are given kingdoms to rule and young Heroes to find. You are given fathers and loves and knowledge. There is something so wonderful that sings in your soul when you, each cycle, realize who you truly are."

Zelda spoke like she was making amends. "Great Nayru, you have always given me the Wisdom to make difficult choices throughout the cycles. You have given me wonderful lives, as well. A pirate sailing the seas with Link. A young princess. A maiden sage. But, this is another difficult choice. It will be my final choice, I suppose, if it should work. I would sacrifice the wonder of being reborn, if to be frozen in this time."

I looked at Din expectantly. She frowned at me. Guess my Goddess Mother didn't like me. "How do we know that, if we grant you immortality, you will not eventually consume your Powers and become cold, uncaring tyrants? It has happened before."

"An oath," I shot back. "I might be good, but I'm not _that _good. The power of you three, as well as the power of the TriShadow, is far greater than what I individually possess. Link, Zelda and I would swear a blood oath: that should we _ever_become corrupt, our Powers leave us altogether. That the Triforce and the Fused Shadows turn to dust. The magnitude of the TriShadow is great enough that it could self destruct, I'm positive."

She weighed that while Farore spoke. "I have faith. Your love, demonstrated today, for the good of your people and for each other, is enough that it would hold balance forever. Through droughts and heartbreak, it would hold. Would it not, Nayru and Din?"

Nayru nodded. "It would hold."

Din scowled. "It would hold." She looked at her blazing fingernails, clearly annoyed and ready to go home to the Heavens. "You're setting yourself up for suffering. Any children you have will not be immortal. You will watch them grow old, wither, and die. But this is the solution we have reached, so I suppose you accept the suffering." She turned to Nayru and Farore. "Shall we bear witness to this scheme of immortality, then?"

Farore smiled, nodding, looking right at me. "Though it is sad to think that this will end the cycle of rebirth, I have much hope for what Hyrule will turn in to under the rule of you three. The innovation that Hyrule's Light realm and Shadow realm shall share is joyous to think of. I profoundly apologize for our misstep in coming here to destroy you and your people, Midna. We did not see the potential beauty of Light and Shadow becoming one. That being said-"

Din groaned. "Make the damn oath already. We'll bear witness to it."

I smiled sweetly at Farore. "Thank you, Goddess Farore." I bowed a little, and then looked at Din sourly, Nayru with respect. "To you as well, Goddess Din and Goddess Nayru. Even if this decision might not have been your top choice, I, uh, won't let you down or whatever. I'll take care of Link, Zelda, all the people and things of Hyrule. We will ward off evil and darkness, projecting only light and beauty, with concern for the citizens before our own needs. This is penance for our past disobedience. Under penalty and swearing on the power of the TriShadow, under the overall power of you three Golden Goddesses, we vow that if we should ever break these promises, to sow evil instead of good, our source of power-the Fused Shadows and the Triforce-shall turn to dust, taking us with them."

The air sang, repeating the words, capturing them, writing in the unreal ink of magic and spirit. The Goddesses nodded, a collective whisper of "may this oath be forever kept, under Shadow, under Light, under spirit, and under heart" came from their lips. A small feeling of numbness iced over me, but it became a shell-not numb. Not uncaring. Just...permanent. It was not as though my heart stopped beating, it was as though it became my _soul_powering it and not the blood in my veins. It was startling, yet not uncomfortable. A quick look at Link and Zelda told me that they felt it, too. The transformation.

They smiled. Even Din. Though hers was still slightly mad.

"Then we depart. Goodbye, dear Zelda, dear Link, and dear Midna. We send our blessings down upon you," Farore grinned, genuine and beautiful. Her form began to fade, turning into bright white particles, like snow falling upwards. Nayru and Din followed suit.

But one voice, carried on the wind, sang back to us. It was Din's. "Don't make me come back down here, little Midna."

And then, just as quickly, impending, threatening, and suddenly as the Three Goddesses had come, they were gone.

I fell to my knees and sobbed, tears that I did not know that I had the capacity to hold. Tears that it was finally over. Tears that marked the great responsibility that had just been handed down to our shoulders. They were not made of terror or sadness. Just relief, awe, realization.

Zelda started crying, too, and I heard Link groan comically. "This is a happy moment! Don't stick the Hero with two crying Princesses!"

I scrambled to my feet and flung myself at him, kissing him and squeezing him until he laughed. "Link, I love you. I love Zelda too, but I love you like hell, you stupid dog." Tears rolled down my cheeks and I felt Zelda hug me from behind.

"And I love you, Midna. Now you really do have to be an optimist. Or we should go gambling. Clearly, we have fate on our side."

"But perhaps Ralis would like his Domain back first," Zelda suggested.

Link and I, bundles of nerves, erupted into giggles. We were rambling, bubbling happily, laughing, and loving.

Something that, through the trials that having Hyrule to run for all of eternity, we would always do.


	30. Chapter 30

Some stayed, some went, some left, and some came.

It was laughable, really, the way our souls all fell in love with one another. We, though we had

been separated by our realms, had shared the same struggles and suffering and joy. So it was not surprising that though the majority of Twilits went back to _our_realm of Hyrule, some could not bear to be part time Light Realmers. And vice versa, it did not surprise me that a year after we had been face to face with the Goddesses, Ashei was crowned as Twilit Royalty, Abram's wife, living rurally and wildly on the eternal sunset.

Silly to me, though, the permanence people were making of it. We had created a duplicate of the Twilight Mirror, placing it more conveniently in the western part of Castle Town, so travel between the realms was much more frequent and pleasant. It was never a shock to see Twilits in the Light Realm, owning ranches or holding political power, and vice versa, it was never a shock to see Light Dwellers in the Twilight Realm, mingling in the Plains, playing games.

Link and I promised to help Zelda rule, as was rightfully so, but with the 'merging' of our realms, I saw no need for two Princesses. I resigned my royal rule, we assigned two councils equally made of Twilits and Light Dwellers, and let Zelda keep her 'Princess' authority.

Time passed in strange ways, each day full of meaning and a realization that there was always more to come. The nightmares were not over, not by a long shot, and there was always struggle. There were political scandals and fights, and more recently, there were branch out groups trying to make contact with the Dark Lands. Some people were gathering groups of explorers, heading out to discover neighboring kingdoms.

Stupid Hylians, as usual.

I took a long sip of wine, feet dangling from atop Link's tree house in Ordon, as he rode Epona into the little grove we took our residence in. It had been his turn to go check on Castle Town, make sure Zelda wasn't losing her head.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself, beautiful," he called up, swinging onto the rungs of the ladder. I rolled my eyes.

"What are in such a smug mood about, dog boy?" I asked, watching the sun set behind the trees, casting shadows. I was so happy that I was guilty, so content that it felt morally wrong.  
Link shook his head, chuckling. "When I left this morning, I noticed something."

"Oh?"

"You left the window in our loft open."

I contemplated that, thinking back to the time where I was an imp and Link was my wolf, stealing the shield. I remember making fun of his people for being so comfortable that they would leave their windows open at night. Village idiots. I remembered that, feeling like it was a lifetime ago, buried beneath everything in my mind. It erased my guilt. I had come full circle. We were blazing full speed ahead.

"That's right, dog boy. You converted me."

"Thought so."

And as twilight melted into evening, I knew that no matter what, we would defend our people against anything that tried to make us shut that window ever again.

_**End.**_

**There you go, folks. As promised, the long, drawn out Author's Note at the end of this trilogy that I abandoned multiple times. If anybody has kept reading this, I congratulate you and thank you heartily for putting up with my bullshit.**

**First and foremost, I decided to finish this...oh, I think I started writing this last "ending" at Thanksgiving, when I found a PM from Krack Munkie (one of my awesome viewers) asking me if I had died. This filled me with an immense sense of guilt. People here on Fanfiction had been wonderfully kind to me, had fostered my young creativity, and had a special place in my heart. Think of me finishing this fic as a way of saying thank you guys, of trying to pay it back.**

**This is not my best writing. But this is the product of my blood, sweat, and tears, trying to give you all the ending you deserve. And, in case you missed it, this ended happily.**

**I am sorry for leaving you all hanging back in early 2011, where I told you all I was off to Mayo Clinic and then didn't follow up. Show of hands: who thought I had kicked the bucket? That would have sucked. But, alas, I didn't kick the bucket. I got a diagnosis. I got a medical plan to follow: including new medications, exercise, and lots of wise words. I came back and immediately started independent study. I got so far ahead that I'm pleased to announce I'm graduating from high school next month. Speaking of which: this will give a few of you kicks, I'm sure. . .I'm very young and looking back on Blood's Shadow & Love's Shadow, I'm surprised people thought I was older. At the moment, I'm fifteen (edit: originally said fourteen, but has since had my birthday) years old.**

**But that's still not the point. Consider this my deepest, most sincere apology, because I am ashamed that I left a wonderful community of readers hanging. There is no amount of illness that can justify that. **

**As far as the fic itself goes...I hope everybody was happy with how this ended. I'm aware that the ending was rushed, but I already take all of my classes at the college and I'm taking a full load over the summer and the fall. I was afraid that if I didn't hurry up and finish it, it would be delayed again. And that's just not fair to you guys.**

**I used Midna's insecurities as a way to channel my own insecurities. I tried to make her a very powerful, dynamic character, though who knows if I was entirely successful? I am not a romance writer, so I apologize for the crappy romance in here. This was not meant to be a romance fic. Especially in this installment. . .I wanted to showcase some religious/spiritual ideas. Mercy and justice are things you have to FIGHT for sometimes. Sometimes, if life throws you lemons, you need to throw them right back.**

**Now, for some general questions that people have asked me regarding fanfiction:**

_**"Are you back for good? Will you continue writing fanfiction?"**_** And the answer to that is...undefined. I'll use this account to lurk on the site. I still read some fics on here. But will I *write* more fanfiction? Unlikely, but not impossible. I'd really like to spend some time working on other writing. . .poetry and opinion pieces. My major is International Studies and I'm full of things to say about politics, so that is a concentration of mine right now. That being said, I sometimes have a good fanfic idea, and as long as I am welcome here, I will post as I see fit. I will always be a Legend of Zelda fan. Especially considering my Skyward Sword obsession-I APOLOGIZE for putting a little bit of Ghirahim in here with Ihira. I know it was random, but I just could not help it. LoZ will always have a special place in my heart. As will this fandom. :)**

_**"Did you take inspiration from any artists/works for this fic?"**_** Lord, yes! I drew inspiration from many things. My own religious views and outlooks (I consider myself to be a fiscally conservative, socially liberal, oddly libertarian Catholic) contributed to this fic, but so did some music: ANYTHING and everything by ZREO, Colossal by Wolfmother, everything by Fozy Shazam, and the entire The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack. And, of course, Nintendo.**

_**"Where can I find your other writing?" **_**I do run a blog and update it somewhat frequently, though it's not about fanfiction. If you like my writing and would like to know more about my life, that's where you'll want to go. I will link to it on my homepage.**

Edit as of 5/2/2012: thank you all for the lovely messages and reviews! A few notes: if you'd like to read my original writing, check out my homepage, linked to on my profile. I post rants, political statements, and sometimes, some creative writing. :) Also, one person PM'd me and asked me about the name "Halyla", which is the English pronunciation of the Hebrew term for "tonight". Good catch! There were a few symbolic things in here, the little girl's name being one of them. I wanted to include some religious/spiritual things in here, and what better way than to use Hebrew? Yes, I speak a little bit of Hebrew.

**Special credit to my sister and my reader Krack Munkie (who provided gorgeous artwork for this fic and was the guy who emailed me to get my rear in gear), and everybody else who sat through this fic. It's been an incredible journey. Thank you all so much for being apart of this fandom.**


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